FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth community leaders like Pastor Michael Bell are closely watching the Aaron Dean trial.
Bell is the senior pastor at Great Saint Stephen Church. He's praying that Atatiana Jefferson's family gets justice.
"We took three years really for the prosecution to present a two-day case. So that, so thus far, it seemed as though Aaron Dean has been brought to trial, but he hasn't been brought to justice," said Bell.
Pastor Bell and other community leaders expressed concerns when Dean's defense attorneys and prosecutors seated a jury with no Black jurors.
Other community leaders are surprised about the speed of the Dean trial. Either way, there are some community leaders who believe Jefferson's family has a fair chance of getting the justice they've waited three years for.
Dean took the stand in his own defense Monday.
Cory Session said, "I think it was a good day for the prosecution. They seem to have caught Mr. Dean off guard. He had to pause for a minute."
"For the first time in the history of Fort Worth, a police officer is on trial for murdering a Black person, and they're making a mockery of the process," said Reverend Kyev Tatum. "As the trial continues, Fort Worth Police are investigating after someone left a casket in the front yard of Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker. It's covered with names of people killed in officer-involved shootings including Atatiana Jefferson."
"This whole trial took a turn for the worse when someone put the casket in front of the mayor's house. And now they're blaming all the activists who have problems with the process. And that's something we wouldn't do," said Tatum.
"It is disturbing," said Session. "An unnerving that someone would go to those tactics. I would rather you would be standing outside the courthouse with signs and pickets."
"No violence was committed as far as we know," said Bell. "And that's a good thing because we don't condone that."
Either way, community leaders agree the outcome of the Dean trial is a decision left up to a jury charged with a huge responsibility.
Testimony is expected to pick back up Tuesday morning.