Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering Saint Lucian Botham Jean in his own apartment, is set to leave prison after serving seven years of her 10-year sentence.
CBS Texas reports that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has listed Friday, October 16, 2026, as her release date.
The development follows the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles’ October 1 decision to approve her parole, despite opposition from Jean’s family. Her first parole application was rejected in 2024.
Jean, a 26-year-old accountant from Saint Lucia, was eating ice cream inside his Dallas apartment when Guyger entered and fatally shot him in September 2018. She testified that she mistook his apartment for her own and believed he was an intruder. A jury convicted her of murder in October 2019.
For those who opposed her early release, the decision raises painful questions about accountability.
Lee Merritt, an attorney who represented Jean’s family, criticised the parole approval, saying “Justice cannot be selective” and arguing that cutting short punishment for an unjustified killing sends a troubling message to grieving families.
In explaining its decision, the parole board cited the absence of a documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions, Guyger’s satisfactory conduct in prison, and her completion of programmes intended to improve her employment prospects after release.
Parole means Guyger will serve the remainder of her sentence in the community under supervision and conditions. Her murder conviction remains in place.
Separately, a civil jury in 2024 ordered Guyger to pay US$98.6 million in damages to Jean’s family. The award was a court judgment; it does not establish that the family received that money.
Jean’s memory also remains part of Dallas itself: the street running alongside the police department’s headquarters was renamed Botham Jean Boulevard in his honour.
