Joshua Brown, a key witness in the Amber Guyger murder trial who was shot to death on Friday, was slated to testify in a civil case against the city of Dallas.
via NYDN:
Joshua Brown, who was 28, lived in the same apartment complex as former Dallas police officer Guyger and Botham Jean. He testified last month that he heard what sounded like “two people meeting by surprise” and then a pair of gunshots.
Guyger was convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of Jean and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She had insisted she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own.
Brown was found dead Friday night in a Dallas parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds. He would have been an important part of a civil action filed by Jean’s family against the city of Dallas, according to lawyer Lee Merritt.
“To have a key witness, suddenly be killed is suspicious,” Merritt told CBS News in an interview published Monday. “Was this related to the trial? There is no clear indication.”
Merritt told The Associated Press that Brown “deserves the justice he sought to ensure the Jean family.”
Authorities have not made an arrest, and are asking for the public’s help in the case. Brown was also shot less than a year ago, Merritt said.
“He was reluctant to testify in this case because he had been shot at and he thought some people might want to do harm to him,” the attorney told CBS News.
The Dallas police department is responsible for investigating Joshua’s murder. Many are rightfully calling for an independent investigation.
