Jury expected to sentence Aaron Dean on Monday for manslaughter in Atatiana Jefferson death

Jurors will return to Tarrant County’s 396th District Court on Monday morning to finish the sentencing phase of former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean’s trial.

A psychologist, one of Dean’s training officers and family members were among those who testified when the hearing began Friday, a day after the jury convicted Dean of manslaughter in the death of Atatiana Jefferson.

Dean could face a sentence of two to 20 years in prison, but defense attorneys are pushing for probation, which the jurors could choose to recommend if they decide to sentence him to 10 years or less. Dean, 38, was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday after the verdict was read.

Dean shot Jefferson, 28, through a window at the back of her home while he was responding to a concerned neighbor’s call about open doors at the house on East Allen Avenue on Oct. 12, 2019.

Dean was led into the courtroom by a bailiff Friday morning. He hugged his parents and conversed briefly with one of his sisters before taking a seat. He sat looking forward, his chin resting on his hand as he waited for the proceedings to begin.

The first witness in Friday’s sentencing hearing, psychologist Dr. Kyle Clayton, evaluated Dean in 2017 before he was hired by the Fort Worth Police Department. Clayton described Dean as narcissistic and said he failed the psychological evaluation.

“My conclusion was that he was not psychologically suitable to serve as a police officer,” Clayton said.

Clayton said there is an appeals process for officers who fail the initial psych evaluation to be assessed by a panel of three other psychologists. If unanimously approved by the panel, the officer can be hired, which is what Clayton said he assumed happened in Dean’s case.

Dean tested high on an assessment for narcissism, meaning he’s someone who would be “quick to take credit and slow to take responsibility,” Clayton said. People with his personality traits show poor judgment, are more likely to engage in reckless behaviors that put themselves and others at risk, “don’t have a high view of others or their opinions,” and have a low tolerance for disagreement and stress, he said.

Dean had previously applied to the Fort Worth Police Department a few years earlier and told the psychologist he withdrew his application because of physical issues at that time. He had also applied to other police departments, including in Grand Prairie and Reno, Nevada.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Bob Gill asked Clayton if psychological examinations are subjective, and Clayton said they do involve the psychologist’s clinical judgment.

Outside the presence of the jury, Clayton said that Dean was flippant in describing an incident in which he was accused of assaulting a woman when they were students at the University of Texas at Arlington and that Dean claimed he thought the woman was flirting with him.

Prosecutors called the victim in that case as their next witness Friday. The judge decided to allow the jury to hear her testimony.

UTA assault

The Star-Telegram has previously reported that in his application to the Fort Worth Police Department, Dean disclosed that he was charged with simple assault in 2004. Dean said he was in a UT Arlington college library “flirting with a girl I was friends with, who had flirted with me on previous occasions. During the course of the exchange, I put my arms around her and at one point stroked her breast. She told me this made her uncomfortable and asked me to stop, which I immediately did, quite embarrassed and apologetic. She later reported the incident to police.”

In his job interview, another officer asked Dean about the charge and what changes he had made since.

“It was a young lady at the school flirting with me. I just wanted to respond, see how it would go. It escalated a bit. I touched her inappropriately,” he said in the interview.

Dean said he asked the woman not to report the assault because he attended a conservative church and was “worried about tarring and feathering and all that,” but she contacted UT Arlington police.

Dean, who was then 19, pleaded no-contest to the charge, which is a misdemeanor, and paid a fine.

On Friday, the woman first gave her testimony to the attorneys and then repeated it to the jury. She testified that she first met Dean when she was 16 or 17 years old and she founded an organization for home-school graduates attending UTA.

On the day of the assault in November 2004, when she was 18, she went to an honors college library to study, she said. Dean was in a room there using a computer and she tapped on a window so he would open the door for her, she testified.

As she leaned over to look at a newspaper on a table, she said, Dean wrapped his arms around her from behind and his hand grazed underneath her breast. Dean whispered something like, “Does anyone know how great you are?” she said.

“I pulled away from his attempted embrace,” she testified She sat down in a chair and another friend came into the room, she said. After that third person left the room, Dean asked about the promise ring on the woman’s finger and she reminded him that she had a boyfriend, she said.

Dean said that was too bad “because he really wanted me,” she testified. She said that she was taken aback and asked him how long he had felt that way and he mentioned liking a dress she had previously worn. Then, he reached over, placed his finger on her breast and traced an outline of it over her shirt, she said.

With her voice breaking on the witness stand, the woman said she spoke up and said, “You’re making me uncomfortable. ... Please don’t touch me.”

She said she had never flirted with Dean.

She left the library, called her boyfriend, and went to the UT Arlington legal affairs office, whose staff took her to the campus police department to file a complaint, she said.

The defense asked if Dean apologized to her and she said yes. The defense also suggested that Dean might have had issues with adjusting socially to college after being home-schooled.

Atatiana’s siblings testify

Jefferson’s brother, Adarius Carr, testified that his baby sister, who he called “Tay,” was his best friend.

Carr and his three sisters — Ashley, Amber and Atatiana — grew up in the Dallas area and “we call ourselves the A team,” he said.

He described Atatiana as a “tomboy” and said they played basketball and video games together.

She attended Xavier University in Louisiana to study biology. “She always wanted to be a doctor,” Adarius Carr said, adding that, “She got diagnosed with diabetes in her pre-teens and wanted to cure it.”

Atatiana made straight As and “school was super easy for her,” her brother said.

Within a few years after she graduated from college, Atatiana moved into their mother, Yolanda Carr’s, home on East Allen Avenue in Fort Worth. She was taking care of Amber’s 8-year-old son, Zion Carr, while both Yolanda and Amber were in the hospital with heart problems, Adarius Carr said.

Adarius Carr is in the Navy and was stationed away from home. He talked about the moment he got the call from his sister Ashley and learned Atatiana had been killed.

“She just told me up front, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this but Tay is gone,’’ he said. “I remember not believing it for a while.”

He flew straight to Texas to help plan the funeral. Their mother was still in the hospital and unable to attend the service.

Yolanda “died exactly 90 days after Tay did,” he said.

Jefferson’s oldest sister, Ashley Carr, took the witness stand for the prosecution during the rebuttal after Dean’s family testified.

She talked about the impact that Jefferson’s death had on their nephew Zion, saying that he struggles with panic attacks and outbursts.

Zion, then 8 years old, was with Jefferson when she was shot.

The prosecutors showed the jury a photo of Jefferson with Zion. Ashley said even though Zion is Amber’s son, Jefferson spent a lot of time playing with him and teaching him things.

“He was our baby,” she said.

Defense witnesses

Tim Foster, who attended church with Dean at Redeemer Church in Fort Worth, said he was, “Dependable, upright, noble — those would be a few adjectives that I would use to describe him.”

Dean organized an annual Christmas musical program at the church, where he attended with his parents and some of his five siblings, Foster said.

Dean graduated from UTA in 2011 with a bachelor of science in physics and worked as an engineer before becoming a police officer.

Foster testified that Dean was “upstanding” and a “humble servant” in his interactions with others and that he did not observe any of the domineering or egotistical behavior described by the psychologist.

Christina Livingston, a Tarrant County community supervision officer with the 396th District Court, testified next about the standard conditions of probation, which Dean has requested the jury to consider for his sentence.

A woman who attended church with Dean, one of his field training officers, his mother and two of his siblings testified as character witnesses after the lunch break.

Fort Worth police Detective Tom Dugan, who was Dean’s training officer for about four weeks on patrol in 2018, testified that he didn’t remember specific things that he corrected Dean on but that he was receptive to direction and eager to learn.

Dugan said that Dean was compassionate toward other people but that one area where he needed improvement was in his interactions with the public and that he didn’t seem to be “a people person.”

Dean called Dugan after the shooting and while they did not discuss the details, the detective said, “As you can imagine, he was pretty torn up. He was devastated.”

Dean’s mother, Donna Dean, said he is the second oldest of six children. He was raised in Arlington and home-schooled all the way through high school.

Donna Dean said her son told her he wanted to be a police officer because “he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives and help people.”

She also said that Dean would help a friend of the family who was a widow with yard work and repairs. There was also a person experiencing homelessness who Dean tried to help and eventually got connected with a shelter in Fort Worth, his mother said.

Adam Dean, one of Dean’s younger brothers, said he was “very close” with Dean while they were growing up. He described his brother as “a man of integrity” who cares about “doing the right thing.”

Dean’s youngest sister, Alyssa Dean, was the final witness to testify for the defense. She said her brother is “hardworking, humble and caring,” and reminisced about how he would bring her whatever stuffed animal she wanted at nap time.

Alyssa Dean has been a police officer for eight years with the Arlington Police Department. When questioned by prosecutor Ashlea Deener, she said that “as a sister” she didn’t think Dean could have done anything differently the night he shot Jefferson.

The hearing ended for the day about 3:45 p.m. and the jury will return Monday morning to deliberate on the sentence. The attorneys are expected to make closing arguments on their recommendations for sentencing first.

Activist arrested, councilman cited for contempt

After Dean’s mother testified, Judge George Gallagher ordered the arrest of an activist who was sitting in the courtroom, Manuel Mata, who the defense wanted sworn in as a witness.

Dean’s defense lawyers called Mata to be sworn in right after Dean’s mother had testified about a group of people she didn’t know yelling at her and her family as they were going to their cars Thursday.

Some supporters of Jefferson’s family were upset that the verdict was manslaughter instead of murder. Dean is white and Jefferson was Black. Before the verdict, supporters prayed and chanted, “Black women matter!”

Star-Telegram video from Thursday showed a group chanting “No justice, no peace” at Dean’s family as they walked to their cars after the verdict. One man yelled “Y’all hear that? That’s Fort Worth telling y’all how they feel about your (expletive) brother.” Mata appeared to be in the crowd but it was unclear whether he was the one who yelled that.

The judge and attorneys all said that Jefferson’s family was not involved in the protest outside the courthouse.

It’s unclear why the defense wanted Mata to be sworn in. Witnesses are not allowed to make public statements about the case while the trial is ongoing or to be in the courtroom unless they’re currently testifying.

Mata said he was confused about who wanted him sworn in as a witness and why, so he wouldn’t take the oath. Gallagher said he was revoking Mata’s bond on a prior arrest and ordered him taken into custody. Jurors were sent out of the room, and several deputies handcuffed him and took him out of the courtroom as he asked for his lawyer.

Reporters said they had not seen Mata doing anything inappropriate while inside the courtroom.

Mata has previously been escorted out for recording video during multiple government meetings, including meetings of the Tarrant County Commission, the Fort Worth City Council and the Tarrant Appraisal District, with at least one such incident leading to his arrest, political news organization The Texan reported.

Earlier in the morning, the judge swore in another activist as a witness and admonished Fort Worth City Councilman Chris Nettles, who had also been sworn in as a witness, for talking to media about the case. Both Nettles and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker face a contempt of court hearing on Jan. 4 for making statements after the verdict. The trial is considered ongoing until the sentencing phase is complete.

Earlier this week Dean testified that he mistakenly thought a burglary might be in progress at Jefferson’s home and that he saw Jefferson point a gun at him. His attorneys argued self-defense.

Prosecutors argued that Dean was a “gung-ho” cop who wasn’t sure what he saw through the window and that he was relieved to find Jefferson’s gun after he shot her. The officer didn’t identify himself, didn’t give Jefferson time to respond to his command to put her hands up and didn’t perform CPR, they said.

Jefferson and Zion had left their home’s front and side doors open, with the glass storm doors closed, to let out smoke after they burned hamburgers they were cooking, Zion testified. They were playing video games in Jefferson’s room when she heard noises in the back yard, grabbed her handgun from her purse and looked out the window. Prosecutors said she didn’t know who was in her yard and had a right to have a gun to protect herself and her nephew.