NBA star Harrison Barnes has offered to pay for the funeral of Atatiana Jefferson, the 28-year-old woman shot and killed in her own home by a Fort Worth, Texas, cop as she played video games with her young nephew.
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Barnes, who played for the Dallas Mavericks for three years before being traded to the Sacramento Kings, says he and his wife, Brittany, will pick up the tab for Jefferson’s funeral, which will be held Saturday at the Potter’s House, Fox News 4 reports.
As the news station notes, Barnes and his wife’s offer comes as no surprise as the couple is known for their philanthropic work in the Dallas-Fort Worth community.
Jefferson was killed in the early morning hours Saturday when authorities say police arrived at her home after a neighbor called them to make sure she and her family were OK. The neighbor noticed that her doors were open and wanted the family checked on.
Instead, the police encounter ended in death when Aaron Dean, one of the officers arriving on the scene, pulled out his gun and fired a shot through Jefferson’s window.
Dean quit the police force shortly before he was arrested and charged with murder on Monday. Prosecutors say the officers never identified themselves nor gave Jefferson time to respond to a single command, issued from her backyard, to put her hands up.
Dean is free from jail on $200,000 bond.
At Saturday’s homegoing service for Jefferson, Bishop T.D. Jakes will give the eulogy, while the Rev. Al Sharpton is set to deliver special remarks, Sharpton’s National Action Network announced in a statement Thursday.
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