Dallas police group head: Convicted officer held accountable

Associated Press

DALLAS

The head of Dallas’ oldest and largest police employee organization said Thursday that good officers want bad ones off the streets and that a former suburban officer convicted in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager was held accountable.

Roy Oliver, who is white, fired into a car filled with black teens leaving a suburban Dallas house party in April 2017, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. A jury convicted Oliver of murder Tuesday and sentenced him to 15 years in prison Wednesday night.

Sgt. Michael Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, said due process was followed in the murder trial. He said a large percentage of officers thought Oliver had committed a crime, but that there was debate over whether it was manslaughter or murder.

“What was accomplished this week was accountability,” Mata said.

Members of Edwards’ family said Oliver’s punishment was too lenient.

Daryl Washington, an attorney for Edwards’ father, said the sentence could have been longer but still sends a message.

“We know that there are parents all over this country who would love to see the person who took the life of their kid spend the next 15 years in prison,” Washington said.

Prosecutors had asked for a minimum of 60 years in prison.