TRAUMA

Mother of Black Woman Fatally Shot in Home by Texas Officer Has Died

An attorney for the family said she “lost her support system” when 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson was fatally shot by an officer in October 2019.

Yolanda Carr, the mother of a 28-year old black woman who was shot and killed in her home by a white police officer, died on Thursday. An attorney representing the family said that medical personnel were called early Thursday to Carr’s Fort Worth home, where her daughter Atatiana Jefferson was fatally shot by former officer Aaron Dean in October 2019. The cause of her death is not known, but Carr was reportedly battling an illness, according to Dallas News. Jefferson had moved in with her mother to be her caretaker shortly before she was fatally shot by the officer. Dean arrived at the home with another officer on Oct. 12 in response to a wellness check from a neighbor who noticed that the home’s doors were open and the lights were on. They did not announce their presence and began shooting through a window seconds after yelling at Jefferson to put her hands up. Jefferson was playing video games with her nephew when the officers arrived. Dean was charged with murder and indicted last month. 

Carr’s death comes after Jefferson’s father, Marquis Jefferson, died at 58 from a heart attack in November 2019, a few weeks after his daughter was killed. “Unfortunately, as a civil rights attorney dealing with wrongful death, I see this often where families have medical issues usually related to the trauma experienced due to police brutality,” said Lee Merritt, an attorney for the family. “She lost her support system when Atatiana was killed,” he added.