Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, issued this statement following the killing of Atatiana Jefferson in her home by a member of the Fort Worth Police Department:

“I am sickened to learn of the death of Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year old African American woman, who was shot and killed at the hands of Aaron Dean, a white officer of the Fort Worth Police Department. News reports suggest that a neighbor of Atatiana’s called the police to report suspicious activity coming from Atatiana’s apartment. The officer approached the residence and shot through the window of the room where Atatiana was playing video games with her 8-year old nephew.

“This was an unspeakable tragedy. This killing represents yet another incident of members of law enforcement killing unarmed African Americans, for no reason whatsoever. Atatiana’s killing was committed by an officer who had been on the police force for about 18 months. The killing comes a mere fortnight after a jury convicted Amber Guyger, a member of the Dallas Police Department, for the shooting death of Botham Jean, who was shot and killed in his home at Guyger’s hand, when Guyger, mistakenly and unreasonably, entered his apartment mistaking it for hers.

“It is clear, from the short time he has been on the police force, and by his conduct, that the officer responsible for killing Atatiana was not adequately trained in de-escalation practices, which could have avoided the loss of Atatiana’s life. Moreover, while I am pleased that Dean has resigned his position and that he has been charged with murder, more must be done. As the author of proposed legislation addressing trust and integrity in law enforcement, I am especially concerned about this matter. My legislation will consider new policing practices to fortify trust and between law enforcement and the communities they are charged to protect and serve. This is critical not just to immediately change policing practices, but to build long-term trust. It is critical that the hard work done by the vast majority of law enforcement not be eclipsed by the acts of bad policing which cause the continuous loss of life in black people in America. It is time to change the style of policing that ends the killing of innocent black people. Incidents like the horrific one which took the life of Ms. Jefferson serve as an urgent reminder that we must do more to increase trust in this sector of our society and prevent these types of tragedies from occurring once more.

“I call on the United States Department of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation of Atatiana Jefferson’s killing to determine how and to what extent Atatiana’s civil rights were violated. While the shooter has resigned from his position as an officer of the Fort Worth Police Department and he has been charged with murder, the shameful and sad reality is that none of this will bring back Atatiana to her loving family. For Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson and countless innocent others whose lives were taken too soon and wrongly, law enforcement must develop and vigorously implement methods to limit the loss of life of innocent individuals. My heartfelt sympathies are with Atatiana’s family at this time. I know that if we could bring back Atatiana, we would. But we cannot. We can only hope her death was not in vain. Until that day and beyond, may she rest in peace.”