By Nichole Manna
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DALLAS — A Dallas County jury has found ex-Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver guilty of murder in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, an African-American youth who was unarmed when Oliver shot him in April 2017.
The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over a period of two days before reaching its verdict. The courtroom erupted in cries and cheers from Edwards’ family afterward as they clapped and hugged each other.
As the jury rendered its decision, a photo of Edwards rested underneath Judge Brandon Birmingham’s bench —where it was left during the duration of the weeklong trial.
Oliver shot into the back of a 2004 black Impala where Edwards was a passenger on April 29 last year. The then-officer claimed the car was about to run over his partner, Officer Tyler Gross, but several witnesses and video taken from the officer’s body camera show the car was moving away from Gross.
Gross himself testified on the first day of the trial against Oliver. He said he never feared for his life. An expert in the use of force also testified that Oliver was not justified in shooting Edwards.
Last year, thousands of Facebook and Twitter users posted about it in the days immediately after the shooting, using “#jordanedwards.” His death was compared to other police shootings of young blacks, such as 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland. Rice, holding a pellet gun, was fatally shot in November 2014.
Officers aren’t usually charged or convicted of shooting civilians —even when they’re unarmed.
In Texas, of the 880 officers involved in shootings between 2010 and 2015, an investigation by The Texas Tribune showed that only 25 were disciplined by their departments. Ten were fired for their actions and 14 were suspended. One was given a written reprimand.
In 2016, a former Farmers Branch police officer involved in a deadly shooting was convicted of killing Jose Cruz and seriously injuring Edgar Rodriguez, both 16 at the time. Ken Johnson was off-duty when he fired at the teenagers 16 times.
When Oliver was indicted on murder charges last year, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said the indictment was hopefully a message to bad police officers that “if you do wrong, we will prosecute you.”
