Yolanda Carr passed away early Thursday morning in the same Fort Worth home where her 28-year-old daughter was killed,accordingto S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Jefferson family.
The cause of Carr’s death is not known, but the matriarch had been ill for some time, according to Merritt.
Merritt also tweeteda videoof Carr from her hospital bed taken before her death, in which the grieving mother reacts to the news that Aaron York Dean — the officer accused of fatally shooting Jefferson — had beenindicted for her daughter’s murder.
“Yolanda’s family is devastated,” the attorneytweetedThursday. “This is why we call police brutality genocide. It is akin to a public lynching. It impacts the entire community. It is domestic terrorism under the color of state authority.”
Tragically in November, Jefferson’s father, Marquis A. Jefferson,died of cardiac arrestdespite having no history of prior illness.
“It’s just sad because of grief. I don’t know what else to say,” the family’s representative Bruce Cartertold NBC Dallasat the time. “Less than a month ago, he was working at El Centro, mentoring kids twice a week. He just couldn’t get back from what happened with his daughter.”
Atatiana Jefferson.Facebook
Jefferson was killed on Oct. 12 when Fort Worth police responded to an “open structure call” in the 1200 block of E. Allen Avenue at around 2:30 a.m. The pre-med graduate of Xavier University had been playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when the call was made.
The officer, later identified as Dean, allegedly never identified himself as police before firing.
Aaron York Dean.Fort Worth Police
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“She worked in pharmaceutical equipment sales. Her mom had recently gotten very sick, so she was home taking care of the house and loving her life,” the description read. “There was no reason for her to be murdered. None. We must have justice.”
Though the campaign was originally set up to cover “funeral cost and other expenses associated with this tragedy,” former Dallas Mavericks star Harrison Barnes and Philadelphia Eagles player Malik Jackson stepped forward to pay for the service.
source: people.com
