Joshua Brown, a neighbor of Botham Jean who testified in the murder trial of Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who shot and killed Jean, was himself shot and killed at a Dallas apartment complex on Friday night. Brown’s death occurred less than six miles from the apartment complex where Guyger shot and killed Jean.
As of now, no suspect has been arrested. Few details are available about the investigation. S. Lee Merrit, the civil rights attorney who represented Jean’s family, however, tweeted that Brown’s mother asked him to “help find out who murdered her son.”
Here’s that tweet:
Many on social media, too, feel that the possibility of retribution is incredibly high, given the circumstances.
Before we get into that, let’s go over what we do know for sure. In initial reports, Dallas police did not name Brown. Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to the scene and found the victim (who we now know was Brown) “lying on the ground in the apartment parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.” From there, Brown was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died from the injuries.
In a Facebook post, Merritt offered additional information. He wrote that the medical examiner confirmed that Brown had been shot in the chest and in the mouth. "He was ambushed at his apartment complex as he got out of his car and shot at close range," the lawyer wrote, adding, “He had no known enemies. He worked for a living. He was not in the streets. We need answers. Immediately."
There are witnesses, to some extent. Police say witnesses informed them that a four-door silver sedan sped away from the complex after the shooting. On Saturday, the Dallas District Attorney's Office confirmed Brown’s identity.
As a refresher, Guyger, an ex-police officer, who was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, claimed that, tired after work, she entered the wrong apartment. Once in the apartment, she saw a man (Jean) and, allegedly believing he was an intruder in her home, shot and killed him. Mind you, this was not her home. It was Jean’s home, where he was sitting and eating ice cream. Her shot was, as we know, fatal.
Brown’s testimony was integral to the case. Among other details, it included when he heard gunshots and Guyger’s response after killing Jean. Guyger claimed she shouted commands at Jean before shooting him (to the effect of “show me your hands”), as though his not following her orders would have justified her shooting. Regardless, Brown testified that he heard no such thing.
Even before his death, Brown’s testimony received a lot of attention. As well as its extremely important content, Brown was emotional on the stand. Why? According to Merritt, Brown was terrified of dying by gun violence. In the same Facebook post, Merritt noted that Brown’s murder “underscores the reality of the black experience in America,” and that, “Brown lived in constant fear that he could be the next victim of gun violence, either state sanctioned or otherwise.” State-sanctioned, here, likely refers to police brutality.
To be clear: We are still lacking a lot of information. But what we do know is that a key witness—who was (understandably) terrified of being a victim of gun violence himself—in a high-profile criminal case was shot and killed. We do know, for certain, that gun violence is an American epidemic.
You can watch Brown’s testimony (warning: it may be triggering, given the subject matter) here: