Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger is set for release on parole Friday after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence for murdering Botham Jean in his South Dallas apartment in 2018.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists her release from the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville for Oct. 16. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles granted parole on Oct. 1, nearly three years before her sentence was scheduled to end. The board cited no documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions, a satisfactory institutional adjustment, and completion of programs intended to help her obtain and maintain full-time employment.
Guyger, then a Dallas officer, fatally shot 26-year-old Botham Jean on Sept. 6, 2018, after she said she mistook his fourth-floor apartment for her own unit one floor below and believed he was an intruder. She was off duty but still in uniform and used her service weapon. A Dallas County jury convicted her of murder in October 2019. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of at least 28 years. Appeals were denied, and her first parole review in 2024 was rejected.
Jean’s family opposed the parole. Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who has represented the family, said they were “deeply disappointed” and that a 10-year sentence was already a fraction of what was lost. The family has described the past eight years as traumatic and painful. In 2024, a federal civil jury ordered Guyger to pay Jean’s family nearly $98.65 million. Related litigation against the City of Dallas remains ongoing.
The case drew national attention amid broader scrutiny of police shootings. Dallas renamed a portion of South Lamar Street for Jean, and the 2021 Botham Jean Act addressed body camera use. The Dallas Police Department said it had no role in the parole decision and that its thoughts remain with the Jean family.
Guyger’s specific parole conditions have not been publicly detailed. Her former trial attorney has said she has employment and housing arranged that will keep her out of the public eye. Parole does not erase the murder conviction.
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