Saint Lucian national Botham Jean was fatally shot at his Dallas, Texas apartment last September by an off-duty police officer who claimed she entered his apartment thinking it was hers and took him for an intruder. Officer Amber Guyger was finally charged with murder following protest demonstrations in the US and at home. She was freed on a US$200,000 bond.
Six months after the incident, the victim’s relatives have launched a foundation in Botham Jean’s name, themed “Promoting Christian intervention for social change”. Allison Jean, Botham’s mother, explained that social change represents social justice, uplifting lives, and making the world a better place. She says the foundation was launched “to inspire breakthroughs of rehabilitation and sustainable growth for the Saint Lucian community, inspire committed relationships with Jesus Christ, and to strengthen the local and universal Church of Christ.”
Additionally, the foundation will seek to provide scholarships to Saint Lucian and Caribbean students wishing to study at American universities. Harding University, Botham’s alma mater, and Price Waterhouse Coopers, his former employer, have established the Botham Jean Memorial Scholarship Fund to give Caribbean students preference over other candidates. The Southwestern Christian College from Dallas, Texas will also make scholarships available.
Allison Jean stated that the foundation will also benefit institutions such as the Boys’ Training Centre, the New Beginnings Transit Home, the Marian Home for the elderly, and the Comfort Bay Senior Citizens Home, with which Botham had been associated. Donations can be made to the non-profit organisation via its website: bothamjeanfoundation.org. The foundation was launched on Wednesday at Harbor Club in Rodney Bay, attended by members of the Jean family, their US-based attorneys, and representatives of both the government of Saint Lucia and the opposition party.
At a press conference that preceded the launch, the Jean family’s attorneys spoke on the criminal and civil cases against the accused US police officer. Referencing the case brought by the Jean family, attorney Daryl Washington said Guyger is required to file and answer to the family’s lawsuit. Another attorney, Lee Merritt, added that the family had not demanded a specific dollar amount, on the basis that Botham’s life was invaluable. What they have done, Merritt explained, is to ask for a jury to “come up with whatever number that would make the city of Dallas take pause, and reconsider its policies and procedures that allowed something like this to happen.”
As for the criminal case, Merritt said no official date had been set for the trial but compared to other cases, he thought the one against Jean’s killer was proceeding fairly quickly. Nevertheless he thought “six months is too long to wait for justice”. He regretted what he described as “a
drop-off in media attention” which he blamed on a gag order placed by a judge in January. Attorney Benjamin Crump had some direct advice for his Saint Lucian audience: “Your prime minister, your government, should engage the United States government and say, ‘Our citizen was killed in your country in an unbelievable way, and we are looking to you to make sure that justice is done.’”
