White former police officer jailed for murder of black teenager

A white former Texas policeman was jailed on Wednesday for 15 years over the deadly shooting of an unarmed black teenager in a Dallas suburb last year that fuelled a national debate over possible racial bias in US policing.

The same jury that convicted Roy Oliver (38) on Tuesday of murder in the death of Jordan Edwards (15) during a police callout deliberated for several hours before deciding his prison sentence.

Oliver was fired from the police force days after the April 2017 shooting.

Oliver’s conviction was a rare instance in which an officer was found guilty of murdering an unarmed person.

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“This case is greater than Jordan,” said Daryl Washington, a lawyer for the Edwards’s family. “We just hope there are going to be some changes.”

In emotional testimony during the penalty phase of the trial on Wednesday, Oliver’s mother asked the jury to sentence her son to the minimum five years, in large part because of the needs of his young son who has autism.

“That’s my prayer, because he could still have such an impact on that child’s life,” Linda Oliver told the jury.

Oliver’s lawyer, Bob Gill, said they would appeal against the sentence, a Texas ABC affiliate reported.

Two police officers who worked with Oliver and a neighbour were among those testifying as character witnesses.

Prosecution witnesses on Tuesday included Edwards’s father, Odell Edwards, who said the last thing he told his son was that he loved him.

Oliver, along with another officer, had responded to reports of underage drinking at a house party in the predominantly black and Hispanic city of Balch Springs, about 25km southeast of the centre of Dallas.

Oliver fired his rifle several times into a car with several teens inside, prosecutors said. Edwards, a standout high school student and athlete, was shot in the head and killed.

The jurors deliberated for about 12 hours over two days before reaching their verdict after a trial that began in mid-August.

Michael Snipes, the first assistant district attorney, said Oliver was a trigger-happy policeman who sent the teenager to an early grave.

The arrest warrant for Oliver said he and the other officer tried to stop a car at an intersection near the party. The other officer broke a passenger window with the butt of his gun.

Oliver’s defence attorney, Jim Lane, had said the vehicle was a threat to Oliver’s partner that night and he fired into the car to save his partner.

However, police body camera images displayed to jurors showed the car was moving away from Oliver when he fired at it.

Oliver’s partner also told jurors he did not believe his life was ever in danger. – Reuters