Former Texas officer sentenced 15 years in shooting death of Black teen

Roy Oliver, right, is being sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, right, in Dallas on Aug. 29, 2018

A Texas jury sentenced a former police officer to 15 years in prison Wednesday for the shooting death of an unarmed African-American teen.

In addition to the prison term, the jury also imposed a $10,000 fine.

Roy Oliver, 38, was convicted of murder on Tuesday in the April 2017 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. The teen was a passenger in a car leaving a party when Oliver opened fire into the vehicle, killing him.

The jury found Oliver not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault.

Oliver testified that he fired into the vehicle because he believed it was moving aggressively towards his partner, Tyler Gross.

However Gross, testified that he did not fear for his life and didn’t feel the need to fire his own weapon.

The verdict was a rare case of law enforcement being convicted in a fatal on-duty shooting. During the sentencing phase, which began after Tuesday’s conviction, Jordan’s father, Odell Edwards, said that the family would never be the same.

“I’m happy, very happy. It’s been a long time, a hard year,” said Edwards.