Father of Atatiana Jefferson, Black Woman Shot in Her Home by White Cop, Dies One Month on From Tragedy
The father of a black woman shot dead in her home by a white police officer has died a month on from the tragedy.
Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was killed last month after police were called to her home in Fort Worth, Texas, for a welfare check.
Her father, Maquis Jefferson, died at a Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas on Saturday night after suffering a heart attack, family spokesman Bruce Carter told the Dallas Morning News.
Carter told NBC5 that Jefferson "just couldn't get back from what happened with his daughter."
"It's just sad because of grief. I don't know what else to say. Less than a month ago, he was working at El Centro, mentoring kids twice a week," Carter told the station. "He just couldn't get back from what happened with his daughter."
Marquis Jefferson sought a temporary restraining order to get control over the funeral arrangements for his daughter from other family members after her death, the Morning News reported. The funeral took place on October 24.
A day after his daughter's death, Jefferson described it as "senseless."
"Her mother called me yesterday morning. She say 'Tay was shot,'" he told CBS DFW. "I mean it's senseless. My daughter was 28. My daughter was 28 years old. Had her whole life in front of her."
Police were called to Atatiana Jefferson's house in the early hours of October 12 after a neighbor informed authorities the woman's front door was open.
She was playing video games with her eight-year-old nephew when she heard what she thought was a prowler outside, according to family members, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
According to NBC5, she had grabbed a handgun from her purse after hearing a noise in her backyard and went towards a window. Body camera footage from police showed two officers checked the perimeter of the house before one sees a figure through a window, the Star-Telegram reported.
"Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" one officer shouts before firing a shot through the window. He doesn't identify himself as police, according to the newspaper.
Aaron Dean, the Fort Worth police officer who shot her, was charged with murder after he resigned from the force following the shooting.
Atatiana Jefferson's death came just weeks after Amber Guyger, a white Dallas police officer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Botham Jean, a black man, in his own home. Jean's brother Brandt Jean made headlines by hugging Guyger in court after the sentence was read out.
But Marquis Jefferson had said he wouldn't be as forgiving.
"Unlike Botham Jean, I don't want no hug. That's my one and only daughter," he told CBS DFW. "I'll never forget that."
