Mother of policeman convicted of murder pleads for lenient sentence for son

Mother of policeman convicted of murder pleads for lenient sentence for son

A white former police officer convicted of murder for shooting an unarmed black teenager is a good man and a devoted father, his mother said as she urged jurors to impose a lenient prison sentence.

Linda Oliver spoke during the sentencing phase of the trial for her son, former Balch Springs, Texas police officer Roy Oliver.

He was convicted on Tuesday in the 2017 death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was killed when Oliver fired his gun into a car full of black teenagers leaving a house party near Dallas.

Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison.

Texas Officer Murder Trial
An image of murdered Jordan Edwards is seen behind a prosecutor during closing arguments (Rose Baca/AP)

“He needs his father’s love. He needs his father’s income. He needs his father’s guidance,” she said.

In a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case, the Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Oliver’s claims that he was protecting his partner when he fired into the vehicle.

His partner told jurors he did not fear for his life.

Gasps echoed around the courtroom as the verdict was read Tuesday.

Edwards’ relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed “Thank you, Jesus!”

Oliver was found not guilty on two lesser charges of aggravated assault stemming from the shooting.

Texas Officer Murder Trial
Odell Edwards and Charmaine Edwards, the parents of Jordan Edwards, react to the guilty of murder verdict (Rose Baca/AP)

They heard from Edwards’ father late on Wednesday, shortly after the sentencing phase began.

He said his son always had a smile on his face and dreamed of playing American football at Alabama.

The shooting occurred after Oliver and his partner responded to a report of underage drinking at a house party in Balch Springs in April 2017.

Police initially said the vehicle carrying Edwards and his friends backed up toward officers “in an aggressive manner”, but police later admitted that bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as officers approached.

Texas Officer Murder Trial
Roy Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison (Rose Baca/AP)

Oliver was fired days after the shooting.

It is extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they are on duty.

Only six non-federal police officers have been convicted of murder in such cases, and four of those convictions were overturned, since 2005, according to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.

Prof Stinson said, to secure a murder conviction, the facts of a case have to be “so over the top and bizarre” that the officer’s actions cannot be rationally explained.

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