Botham Jean’s sister, Allisa Charles-Findley, has written a new book due out next month, on processing the grief of her brother’s fatal shooting by a Dallas police officer.
Officer Amber Guyger said she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment when she shot Botham thinking he was a burglar, on the night of September 6, 2018
The 26-year-old deceased was unarmed and in his own apartment at the time.
On October 1, 2019, Guyger was found guilty of Botham Jean’s murder and sentenced to ten years in jail.
The ruling was upheld on appeal in 2021.
Botham’s sister told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that processing the collection of feelings after her brother’s death led her to journal, which became the basis for her book.
The publication’s title is: ‘After Botham: Healing from my Brother’s Murder by a Police Officer.’
Charles-Findley told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth that she and her deceased brother were very close.
She recalled praying for a murder conviction but indicated in the book that the conviction did not bring closure.
“I think I expected more,” the sister explained.
“When it came, you know sometimes when you gain a victory you win something and there was nothing gained and all I wanted was my brother back and that wasn’t happening. So it was a bitter-sweet feeling,” Charles-Findley said during the television interview.
She spoke of going through the healing process and undergoing therapy after Botham’s death.
“The therapist suggested that I journal and that’s where it started because I was holding on to my anger because I did not want to feel the pain,” Charles-Findley stated regarding the new book.
She disclosed that she had to release the anger to move forward.
“So I would suggest to anyone going through this – no matter how you lost your loved one you have to feel it. You have to go through the pain in order to move forward,” Charles-Findley said.
As the song writer says – “who feels it knows it all” – you will have to work through your grieving process in order to be able to return to some sense of normalcy – this is an experience that you will have to deal with forever. Therefore, if writing a book helps you in your grieving process – praise God.
It is very disheartening to know that your loved ones are in their domain, where they are supposed to be safe, but they end up getting shot to death.