The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole granted parole to Amber Guyger, a former police officer who killed Botham Jean in his apartment. Guyger, 38, was sentenced to 10 years for the murder in October 2019 but will now be released early. This decision comes seven years after her conviction by a Dallas County jury for the shooting death of Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, in his own home while she was off duty.
The board cited Guyger’s lack of a violent history and her satisfactory behavior in prison as reasons for the decision. They noted her completion of programs aimed at improving employment prospects, emphasizing that she lacks “a documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests/convictions” and has maintained a “satisfactory institutional adjustment.”
A Controversial Decision
This decision marks a significant shift from the board’s previous stance. In late 2024, they denied Guyger parole, stating she posed a threat to public safety due to the violent nature of her crime. At that time, the board highlighted the brutality and conscious disregard for the victim’s life in their denial, noting the offense involved “elements of brutality, violence, assaultive behavior, or conscious selection of victim’s vulnerability.”
Jean’s family expressed deep disappointment through their attorney, Lee Merritt, emphasizing their opposition to the parole and the belief that the sentence was already too lenient. Merritt stated, “Botham’s family and the community strongly opposed this parole. They stood up again and again to ask that the full sentence be served. A 10-year sentence was already a fraction of what was lost. Releasing Ms. Guyger after seven years makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system. It is not.”
The Incident and Trial
Guyger testified that she mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment, believing it was her own, and shot him. She expressed remorse, stating she hated herself and wished Jean had killed her instead. During the trial, she explained she was distracted by a phone call after a long overtime shift, entered the wrong floor of her apartment complex, and opened fire thinking Jean was an intruder in her home.
Despite the parole grant, Guyger’s release date remains uncertain. The Texas Department of Public Safety has not scheduled her release, and her next review was initially set for October 20, 2026. According to the department, Guyger is not currently scheduled for release, and her parole status will be reevaluated at that time.
