On Wednesday night, after more than five hours of deliberation, a jury in Dallas County, Texas, sentenced former Balch Springs Police Officer Roy Oliver to 15 years in prison for the fatal shooting of unarmed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards in April 2017. Oliver, 38, had been convicted of murder on Tuesday, the first police officer convicted of murder in Dallas County since 1973. Edwards is black and Oliver white.
Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, had been sent to investigate underage drinking at a party, and Oliver fired five shots from his AK-15 rifle into the car Edwards was riding in as it left the party. Oliver said he believed Gross' life was in danger, but Gross disagreed at the trial and body-camera footage showed the car driving away from the officers when Oliver shot Edwards. Oliver was fired and arrested days after the incident. He had faced up to life in prison.
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