DALLAS – For nearly two weeks, the family of Jordan Edwards has been numb. Their world is rattled and forever changed after a Balch Springs Police officer shot and killed the 15-year-old Mesquite High School stellar student and athlete.
The faces of Jordan’s father and stepmother were somber, on Thursday, as they followed a team of lawyers into the Frank Crowley building for a meeting with Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson. Lawyers say the District Attorney wanted to discuss evidence, resources, and the expectations of Jordan’s family as the State pursues the murder case against now former Balch Springs Police officer Roy Oliver.
Oliver, who is White, was charged with Murder last week. He was fired from Balch Springs Police Department days after firing a rifle into a car full of Black teens who were leaving a party. Jordan was in the passenger’s seat.
Investigators said body camera video told a different story than the tale Oliver described in his police report from that tragic night on August 29.
Balch Springs’ Police Chief, Jonathan Haber, quickly fired Oliver for violating Department protocols.
Community members have been demanding transparency on all levels of the shooting investigation.
Several anti-violence advocates and faith leaders including Mothers Against Police Brutality, NAACP, Faith in Texas, Faith For Texas, Faith Forward, and others stood in solidarity with the Edwards family, during a press conference after their meeting with the District Attorney.
The group is asking for a deeper probe into the Balch Springs Police Department and its practices.
The attorneys for the Edwards family also announced the Department of Justice is now looking into the deadly officer involved shooting case.
Community members say they are concerned. They say the last time an officer was convicted of shooting and killing someone in Dallas County was in 1973.
“Our community has been traumatized over and over, throughout this entire country,” said Jasmine Crockett, an attorney for the Edwards family. “We think that we are finally getting somewhere. We get our hopes up, and then it all falls apart. And so, I do believe that DA Johnson is committed to getting a conviction. I just don’t now that I’m so convinced that the path to that conviction… I don’t know if we see eye to eye on how we are going to get there.”
Sources close to the investigation say more charges could come in this case. They say obstruction of justice could be among additional charges.
For now, the community is working to continue supporting the Edwards family.
Organizers with Mothers Against Police Brutality are planning a memorial outside the Frank Crowley Court building at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 13. The group says it will lay a wreath in memory of Jordan Edwards and all children who were killed by police in Dallas County and across the country.