FORT WORTH, Texas — On Oct. 12, 2019, a Fort Worth police officer was responding to a welfare check call near the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue.
Bodycam footage showed an officer standing outside of the front door of a home that evening, before he walked around the side of the house, opening a gate to the backyard.
The officer was in the backyard when he turned toward a window. The officer yelled before firing once through the window.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office said Atatiana Jefferson, 28, died in her bedroom.
In the three years since her death, Jefferson's family is still calling for justice and holding events in her honor.
The former officer accused of shooting and killing her, Aaron Dean, is still awaiting trial. Dean faces murder charges in Jefferson's death. The trial has been delayed and pushed back due to several reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Nov. 28.
The welfare check call
A neighbor said he had called the Fort Worth non-emergency police number to request a welfare check for his neighbor after he said he saw lights on and the front door open. According to the police department, officers had responded to an "open structure call," which is different than a wellness check. It wasn't clear why the call came in under open structure instead.
Bodycam footage showed a screen door closed at Jefferson's home, but the front door open. Lights were also on in the house. Dean didn't appear to knock or was heard announcing himself at the doorway on the footage.
Dean had said he shot through the window "perceiving a threat." Right before he shot through the window, he can be heard on bodycam footage shouting "Put your hands up. Show me your hands!"
Fort Worth police said Jefferson had grabbed her gun in the moments leading up to the shooting. When Dean saw her with it, he shot her, police said.
First aid was administered to Jefferson, but she died at the scene.
Her nephew, Zion, had been in the home at the time of the shooting. Zion, who was 8 years old at the time, had been playing video games with his aunt.
Who was Atatiana Jefferson?
Jefferson had a biology degree and loved everything about science. She was also an avid gamer. Her family said she had hoped to inspire her nephew, Zion.
The two shared a love of video games, according to her family. Amber Carr, Jefferson's sister, said "Tay" was giving Zion structure, teaching him responsibility and holding him accountable.
"Tay" was what Zion called Jefferson.
In the years since her death. Jefferson's family said she has inspired them to keep her passion alive for members of her community.
The Atatiana Project was created in 2020, with the hope to expose children to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, and create a love for science like Jefferson had.
“How can we make this tragedy some kind of victory?” Carr said in 2020. “We don’t want to be angry all the time. We don’t want to be upset even though we are hurt, and that hurt is never going to go anywhere.”
Also in 2020, the Fort Worth City Council voted to rename a main thoroughfare in east Fort Worth from East Allen Avenue at Interstate 35 West to East Maddox Avenue at U.S. Highway 287 after Jefferson. The Atatiana Jefferson Memorial Parkway now runs near her home.
What happens next for Aaron Dean?
Dean resigned from his position as a Fort Worth police officer before former Chief Ed Kraus could fire him.
Dean's trial was originally scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022, after a delay from the COVID-19 pandemic. Several setbacks later pushed the trial to begin with jury selection on Nov. 28 and a trial start date of Dec. 5.
Dean faces a murder charge in Jefferson's death.