On September 6, 2018 Botham Jean was shot and killed by Amber Guyger, a-then Dallas police officer. Jean, a 26-year-old accountant was killed in his Lamar Street apartment. An online petition that circulated through local activists and church groups have lead to Dallas City Council renaming parts of Lamar Street to Botham Jean Boulevard according to a Dallasnews.com report. Dallas City Council recently voted to approve renaming about four miles of South Lamar Street between Interstate 30 to South Central Expressway in his memory. The road includes South Side Flats, the apartment complex where Botham Jean and his killer, Amber Guyger, lived.
The majority of city council members backed the proposal, although a few council members wanted to delay the street naming decision raising concerns about the $20,000 cost to change the street signs and the effects on property and business owners along the street. The ongoing wrongful death lawsuit also raised concerns. “The renaming of Lamar Street in my mind is a gesture to honor Botham and what he meant to the city of Dallas, and the litigation is to seek accountability for what was done to him” said Allison Jean, Botham’s mother.
Allison Jean expressed that the family’s wish was for Botham Jean to be remembered, according to Dallasnews.com. After the council vote, Jean’s mother described the approval as “a bittersweet moment.” “I’m grateful South Lamar is being renamed to Botham Jean Boulevard,” she said. “But it doesn’t bring my son back.” She would like for the entire stretch of Lamar street to one day be renamed after her son.
Allison Jean expressed disappointment that city council members would bring up the lawsuit as a reason to delay a decision on the street renaming. Jean’s family in September filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his former apartment complex There is also an active lawsuit in federal court against the city of Dallas and Guyger who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for Jean’s murder.
