ON TRIAL

Cop Who Shot Atatiana Jefferson Handled Welfare Check All Wrong, Expert Says

The expert said Aaron Dean should’ve stayed at Atatiana Jefferson’s front door instead of circling her home unannounced.

An expert who testified in the trial of Aaron Dean, the Fort Worth cop who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson during a welfare check in 2019, grilled Dean on Tuesday for his conduct during the deadly incident. Jonathan Priest, a forensic expert called upon by prosecutors, said Dean should have remained at Jefferson’s front door instead of circling her home unannounced. “I don't why they leave the front door,” Priest said of Dean and a second who was with him. “It's problematic.” Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, was shot dead by Dean, who is white, through a bedroom window. Body cam footage showed Dean arrive at an open front door—which was the reason he was ordered to check on the house in the first place—and then circle the home. Prosecutors say Jefferson heard a noise outside and grabbed her gun. Dean testified Monday that he fired through the window after Jefferson pointed a gun at him, something prosecutors say never happened. Regardless of how the incident ended, Priest said Dean should have never been near Jefferson's window at all—an action Dean claimed is Fort Worth PD’s procedure for responding to a home with doors left open.