Essence Sommers

Courtesy of Google, Joshua Brown, 28

Joshua Brown, a man who was Botham Jean’s next-door neighbor, was shot and killed in his own Dallas apartment on October 4, 2019. Joshua Brown was a key witness in the murder trial against Amber Guyger. Guyger was a former Dallas police officer that was convicted of murder and sentenced 10 years in Mountain View State Prison in Gatesville northwest of Temple.

Brown stated he was returning home from a sports bar later that night when he heard Guyger go into Jean’s apartment from across the hallway. During the trial, Guyger stated she yelled commands telling Jean to put his hands up before shooting and killing him. Brown stated on the stand that he never heard her say that to him.

Joshua Brown, 28, was killed 10 days after testifying against the former police officer during the trial. Merritt claims Brown lived in fear of gun violence and that is part of the reason he was emotional during the trial.

Brown was shot around 10:30 p.m on a Friday near his new apartment. He moved out of Southside Flats apartment complex about three months after Jean was killed in September 2018. His new residence was about five miles from his old apartment where Jean was shot and killed. Brown was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Joshua was supposed to be the main witness in a lawsuit against the Jeans family and the

Courtesy of Dallas News, Joshua Brown’s testimony during the trail.

 city of Dallas. Brown’s family lawyer S. Lee Merritt, stated he did not want to testify and was slated to be the first witness. Brown believed taking the stand would put his life at risk. According to the NY Post, he fled to California while the trail was going on but the prosecutor threatened to issue a warrant for his arrest if he didn’t appear in court.

Merrit stated Brown had been shot last year in November 2018 celebrating a birthday at a club in Dallas. A gunman fired at Brown and some of his friends, hitting Brown in the foot. They do not know if the shooting was linked to that incident. 

Brown is originally from Jacksonville, Florida, and he moved to Texas in 2008. He graduated from South Florida State College where he played football from 2012 to 2013. Brown was also managing Airbnb rentals in Dallas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles at the time of the testimony. Brown’s main job was a roofing contractor. 

According to Dallas News, the Dallas Police Department confirmed in a statement that Brown’s body was found in the parking lot of his current apartment shot multiple times in the lower body. Police said several witnesses reported hearing multiple shots fired and seeing a silver, four-door sedan leaving the parking lot at a high speed. 

A rise of speculation has occurred, some people ran to social media in public distress at the timing of Joshua’s killing. A few people had questions on whether his death was connected to the testimony he stated in the trail. Nothing has been proven but people have theories that it was an assassination or even retaliation. 

Dallas Police Department is still under investigation. No suspects have been arrested for the murder of Joshua Brown.