Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering her neighbor Botham Jean in 2018, was released from a Texas prison on Friday, October 16, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She left custody before 10 in the morning, about seven years into a 10-year sentence.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved her release on October 1, over the strong objections of Jean's family. It was the first time she was eligible to ask again after the board turned her down in 2024.
The case that drew national attention
On September 6, 2018, Guyger, still in uniform after a shift, walked into Jean's apartment, which was directly above her own, believing it was hers. She said she thought Jean was an intruder and feared for her life. Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from St. Lucia, was unarmed and eating ice cream. He died at a hospital.
A Dallas County jury convicted Guyger of murder on October 1, 2019, after about six hours of deliberation. Jurors had also been allowed to consider manslaughter. The next day, the jury sentenced her to 10 years.
At sentencing, Jean's brother Brandt forgave Guyger and hugged her in the courtroom. Jean's father said he forgave her too, but wanted a stiffer sentence.
Guyger's lawyers appealed, arguing the evidence did not support a murder conviction. A state appeals court upheld the verdict in 2021, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed it in March 2022. In 2024, a civil jury ordered her to pay Jean's family about $98.65 million.
Why the board said yes
The board said it reviewed a "plethora" of information, the Associated Press reported. It found no documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions, and noted that she completed programs in her prison treatment plan aimed at helping her find and keep work after release. Her legal team did not respond to the AP's requests for comment.
Guyger first became eligible for parole in 2024, after serving half her sentence. More than 6,000 people signed a petition opposing her release that year, including Jean's family and the Dallas County District Attorney.
Attorney Anthony Farmer, who was not involved in the case, said the board weighs the individual against the severity of the offense, and found Guyger a candidate for release. Prison consultant Bruce Cameron called her a "model inmate" and said serving seven of 10 years was a fair ratio, while acknowledging that some would disagree.
The family's response
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who has represented the family, told the AP that they "strongly opposed this parole" and "stood up again and again to ask that the full sentence be served." Releasing Guyger after seven years, he wrote, "makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system," according to KTVU. In a statement, the family said Jean's death "left our family forever dismembered."
In 2021, Texas passed Bo's Law, named for Jean, which requires officers to keep body cameras running throughout an active investigation.
Parole is not the end of a sentence. It is early release under supervision, and the board weighs conduct in prison alongside the severity of the offense. For defense lawyers, the Guyger case shows how much the sentence a jury chooses at trial shapes what happens years later.
The case also raised hard questions about what a person may do when they believe someone has entered their home, a subject covered in our explainer on stand your ground and self-defense law. It is the kind of case the Two Taps legal panel of Daniel Rosenberg, Michael Dye and Lloyd Golburgh takes apart on the show.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
