The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has approved early release for Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Botham Jean inside his own apartment in September 2018. The decision comes roughly seven years after the killing that drew national attention and sparked widespread debate over police accountability.
Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2019 after a jury found her guilty of murder. She had previously been denied parole in 2024, and multiple attempts to appeal or overturn her conviction were rejected by the courts.
The parole board cited three primary reasons for approving her release: no documented pattern of violent or assaultive behavior on her record, satisfactory conduct during her incarceration, and successful completion of programs designed to support stable employment upon reentry.
The incident occurred on the evening of September 6, 2018, when Guyger returned home from her shift still in uniform. She entered what she claimed she believed was her own apartment but was actually the unit one floor above hers, belonging to Jean, an accountant who was relaxing at home. She fired her weapon upon seeing him and later testified she acted in self-defense, believing he was an intruder.
Jean’s family, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, and thousands of community members had strongly opposed her parole. A civil jury also previously found Guyger liable for Jean’s death and ordered her to pay $98.6 million in damages to his family, a trial she did not attend and for which she had no legal representation.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who represents the Jean family, issued a sharp rebuke of the parole decision. He wrote that Botham Jean was in his own home, doing nothing wrong, when his life was taken, and that releasing Guyger after seven years diminishes the weight of that loss. He added that the family still lives with the grief every day while Botham does not get to come home.
The Dallas Police Department released a statement acknowledging the parole decision but emphasized it had no role in the outcome, as such determinations rest solely with the state board. The department expressed that its thoughts remain with the Jean family.
The street outside Dallas Police Department headquarters, once known as Lamar Street, was renamed Botham Jean Boulevard in his honor. No specific release date for Guyger has been announced by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.