Marquis Jefferson, the father to Atatiana Jefferson, died nearly a month after she was killed by police in Forth Worth, Texas.
According to The New York Times, Marquis died Saturday evening at the Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas. The 58-year-old had been at the medical center since Friday night after having heart complications and suffering cardiac arrest, family spokesman Bruce Carter said.
“I can only sum it up as a broken heart,” Carter said. “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.”
Atatiana was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when former police officer Aaron Dean shot through her bedroom window. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the shooting happened after a neighbor called police because he saw Atatiana's door was left open around 2 a.m on Oct. 12.
Body camera footage shows two officers checking the outside of the house with a flashlight. That's when Dean saw a person inside and yelled, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” before shooting through the window and killing Atatiana.
In an interview with CBS DFW shortly after the death of his daughter, Marquis said Atatiana had a bright future ahead of her.
“Her mother called me yesterday morning. She say ‘Tay was shot,’” Marquis told CBS DFW. “I mean it’s senseless. My daughter was 28. My daughter was 28 years old. Had her whole life in front of her.”
According to CNN, Atatiana's neighbor called a non-emergency number to request a wellness check, but the situation escalated because police came expecting a burglary.
"The information came from the neighbor to the call-takers and while it was relayed to the dispatch, it was determined to be an open structure call," Fort Worth Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus told reporters.
Dean, who resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department, was charged with murder, CBS DFW reported.