“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.” That’s from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.
Oliver was on trial after shooting into a car full of teenagers leaving a party in April of 2017.
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.
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.” …Until Oliver’s conviction, it had been more than 40 years since an on-duty officer had been convicted of killing someone in a shooting.