Dallas, December 24 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Texas, a grand jury has indicted former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean for murdering Atatiana Jefferson in a case that sparked widespread outrage over police killings of African-American women.

Officer Dean, who is white, was responding to a non-emergency call for a wellness check called for by a neighbor who saw Jefferson’s front door was open on a warm night in October.  The 28-year-old graduate student was in her bedroom, babysitting her 8-year-old nephew.

Soon after the officers arrived, Dean shouted through Jefferson’s bedroom window to put her hands up, and then immediately opened fire, killing her.  He never identified himself as a police officer.

Atatiana’s mother celebrated the murder indictment.  Atatiana’s father died in November of a heart attack, at the age of 58, less than one month after his daughter’s murder.