Atatiana Jefferson's family members have filed a lawsuit against the City of Fort Worth and the former officer who shot her to death last year. 

As Blavity previously reported, Jefferson was at her mother's home playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew on Oct. 12, 2019, when someone called the police for a welfare check because her door was slightly open. Former officer Aaron Dean did not announce himself and opened fire on Jefferson from outside her window, killing her.

The lawsuit filed by her family states that the police department is liable for Jefferson's death because they failed to train Dean properly and ignored multiple concerns in his file. A performance review from 2018 obtained by USA Today showed that his superiors had previously criticized him for having "tunnel vision." 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that his bosses also said he was a bad communicator and “rather than owning up to it, his responses are evasive and deflecting.”

The lawsuit adds that Dean "exhibited a pattern of escalating encounters with the public" and accuses him of violating Jefferson's rights, assault and battery. 

Video of the incident caused nationwide outrage and confirmed that Dean never identified himself. In the footage, Dean yells "put your hands up," but fires immediately after. 

The police department has tried to defend Dean's actions by saying a gun was found in the house, but the 8-year-old told investigators that he and Jefferson were scared because they thought someone was trying to break into the home. 

Dean later resigned from the police force but refused to cooperate with investigators. He was indicted on murder charges in December for killing the 28-year-old college graduate.  

According to USA Today, Judge David Hagerman recently scheduled Dean's trial for August.

During an interview, Dean said he pleaded no contest to an assault charge in 2004 after he touched a woman inappropriately while studying at the University of Texas-Arlington. In his job interview, he didn't hesitate when asked if he could kill someone and said he wanted to join the police force because he didn't want to serve overseas in the Army. 

Jefferson was widely beloved in her community. She held a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with a focus on pre-medicine from Xavier University of Louisiana, where she was known as a dedicated student with an avid love of biology. She was excited to go to medical school upon graduating, and had been saving up money to complete her medical studies. 

She adored her nephew, and at the time of her death was helping her mother, who had fallen ill. Her mother passed away in January. 

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price spoke out about the shooting at the time, and Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said Dean "acted inappropriately."

“I'm so sorry. On behalf of the entire city of Fort Worth, I'm sorry. To Atatiana’s family, it’s unacceptable. There is nothing that can justify what happened on Saturday morning. Nothing,” Price said. 

Jefferson's father, Marquis Jefferson, who died just one month after her shooting, had called her death "senseless," according to CBS DFW.

“I can only sum it up as a broken heart. He had to go through so much just to get through the services as a father, and continually doing good to make sure that who he was in their relationship was something he could honor,” family spokesman Bruce Carter said. 

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