FORT WORTH, Texas — Tuesday marks two years since Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed in her own home by a Fort Worth police officer.
The Fort Worth community is marking the day by honoring Jefferson. The Fort Worth City Council will proclaim Oct. 12 “Tay Day” as the first item on the agenda for Tuesday night’s city council meeting. “Tay” was Jefferson’s nickname to her friends and family.
In October 2020, Fort Worth City Council voted to rename a main thoroughfare in east Fort Worth from East Allen Avenue at Interstate 35 West to East Maddox Avenue at U.S. Highway 287 after Jefferson. The Atatiana Jefferson Memorial Parkway now runs near Jefferson’s home.
This September, the city council also discussed designating a portion of I-35W frontage roads in Fort Worth in Jefferson’s honor. The city council adopted a resolution to do so in August, but no further action has been taken at this time.
Now-former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean shot and killed Jefferson in her own home in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2019 after a neighbor called Fort Worth police for a welfare check because of an open door at the home, according to officials.
Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when Dean walked into her backyard. According to police records, Jefferson grabbed her gun and got up to look out the window when she was shot.
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