A Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her black neighbour in his apartment, which she claimed she mistakenly thought was her own.
On Tuesday, a jury found Amber Guyger guilty of murder over the September 2018 killing of Botham Jean.
Guyger's sentence was met with boos and jeers by a crowd gathered outside the courtroom. "It's a slap in the face," one woman said.
But in an act of kindness, the brother of the victim took the witness stand and spoke directly to Guyger, saying, "I love you like anyone else”.
Botham Jean's younger brother Brandt Jean hugs convicted murderer and former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger after delivering his impact statement. Source: Pool The Dallas Morning News
Brandt Jean later hugged her in the courtroom before she was led off to prison.
The trial had heard Guyger, returning from a long shift that night, entered Mr Jean's fourth-floor apartment and shot him.
Botham Jean's mother, Allison Jean, becomes emotional speaking about her son during sentencing testimony. Source: Pool The Dallas Morning News
Guyger said she parked on the wrong floor and thought Mr Jean's apartment was her own, directly below, and that he was an intruder.
Her lawyers argued that the identical physical appearance of the apartment complex from floor to floor frequently led to tenants going to the wrong apartments.
But prosecutors questioned how Guyger could have missed numerous signs that she was in the wrong place.
They also asked why she didn't call for backup instead of walking into the apartment if she thought she was being burglarised and suggested she was distracted by sexually explicit phone messages she had been exchanging with her police partner, who was also her lover.
A jury found Amber Guyger guilty of of murder over the September 2018 killing of Botham Jean. Source: Dallas County Sheriff's Department
The shooting drew widespread attention because of the circumstances and because it was one in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.
One of the Mr Jean family lawyers hailed the verdict as "a victory for black people in America" after it was handed down on Tuesday.
The jury was largely made up of women and people of colour.
