Amber Guyger case: Botham Jean's lawyer says witness Joshua Brown was assassinated, refuses to rule out police involvement
The lawyer for Joshua Brown, a witness who was crucial in the trial of Dallas cop Amber Guyger and who was shot and killed last Friday, has claimed that the 28-year-old's death was the result of an "assassination" and refused to rule out the involvement of the police.
On Friday, October 4, at around 10:30 pm, just two days after the conclusion of the trial, Brown was shot in the parking lot of the Atera apartment complex. He was rushed to the nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
"It is a possibility," Lee Merritt told the Daily Mail suggesting that it may have been a cop who shot Brown. "I don't have any evidence other than the timing, but I am not ruling anything out."
"But what I do know is that Joshua was targeted," he continued. "This was an assassination. He pulled into his parking lot and he was shot. The perpetrators fled. They didn't steal anything from him."
"This is a kid who had no gang ties, there was no lover's quarrel. He was an Airbnb host and roofer. All the usual suspects of crime, drugs, and sex, are simply not there."
Brown had testified during the trial saying how, on the night of Botham Jean's death, he had returned to his apartment on the fourth floor of the South Side Flats complex on Lamar Street in Dallas, after a football game when he heard two gunshots. He said he looked through his peephole and saw Guyger crying on the phone in the hallway.
When asked about the victim, Brown started wiping away tears himself. He said that fateful night was the first time he had ever met him, despite living opposite to him, and revealed he often heard him singing gospel and Drake songs in the mornings.
Merritt said he had been initially told that the 28-year-old had been shot in the mouth and chest, but that he was now waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner.
Witnesses at the scene said they heard several gunshots and saw a silver sedan speeding out of the apartment complex shortly after, though there is little further information about the incident.
Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall said there were no suspects or motives at the time, but insisted that they were "committed to solving this case and will work diligently to apprehend the individuals responsible for Brown’s death."
Guyger was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, though the prosecution's success was quickly overshadowed by Brown's shooting death.