The father of Atatiana Jefferson, the 28-year-old woman who was tragically shot in her own home by a Fort Worth police officer last month, has died.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Marquis Jefferson suffered a heart attack and died Saturday night at Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas.
“He ultimately just succumbed to, I don’t know, I can only say a broken heart,” family spokesman Bruce Carter told CNN. “He never recovered from the grieving process.”
Less than a month before, his daughter Atatiana was killed by a police officer who was responding to a welfare call after a neighbor reported that the front door of her residence was open. Aaron Dean, who has since resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department, faces a murder charge in her death.
After her death, Marquis Jefferson became involved in a dispute with other family members over his daughter’s funeral details. Her service took place Oct. 24 after a judge issued a temporary restraining order in her father’s favor.
At the time, Marquis Jefferson claimed that he was left out of the funeral planning by other family members, who were also claiming that he was not even Atatiana’s biological father.He was able to receive the restraining order after proving he was her father, as indicated on Atatiana’s birth certificate.
Our thoughts are with the Jefferson family through this difficult time.