Answers wanted in shooting death of key witness in Guyger trial

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, Texas (KTVT/CNN) – There are calls for an outside investigator to look into the killing of a man who testified against former Texas officer Amber Guyger.

For a city taking its first tentative steps toward healing, the murder of prosecution witness Joshua Brown ripped the bandage off a still fresh wound.

“Josh’s heart touched a lot of people and when you lose somebody like that, a little piece of everybody he touched is gone, too,” said Donte Anderson, Brown’s friend.

The world was watching as Brown tearfully told jurors about his neighbor, Botham Jean.

He also testified that he did not hear the fired Dallas police officer Amber Guyger give verbal commands before opening fire.

“I can’t say that I heard any type of words… that I could make out,” Brown said during his testimony.

Then on Friday night, someone opened fire on Brown in an Oak Lawn-area apartment parking lot.

Many in the community feared that he was targeted because of his testimony.

But family members have said that Brown was concerned about a nightclub altercation late last year.

“Members of Joshua’s family have expressed to me, and his close friends, that there were ongoing threats related to the November 2018 shooting at the Dallas cabaret,” said Lee Merritt, civil rights attorney.

The shooting at the Dallas nightclub left one man dead and wounded Brown.

Now critics say the community needs answers.

“No one moves on from this case as a unsolved murder. We need answers, and we need them to come from a reliable source,” Merritt said.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has also called for an outside inquiry into the shooting.