3rd anniversary of Atatiana Jefferson death haunts neighbors

Every day, James Smith re-lives Atatiana Jefferson’s death. The 64-year-old used to sit on his front porch swing and look out over his pristine, green lawn with a sense of peace. He chatted with his sister next door and waved at Yolanda Carr — Jefferson’s mom — and the Carr family across the street. After Oct. 12, 2019, the front of his house became a place of torture. Each glance across the street, where the blue house at 1203 E. Allen Ave. sits empty, reminds Smith of the call he made early that morning to the Fort Worth police non-emergency line.

In his mind’s eye, he watches the two responding Fort Worth police officers creep into the back yard of the Carr house, where Jefferson was babysitting her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr. He hears Officer Aaron Dean’s shouts and the nearly simultaneous gunshot from Dean’s weapon. Every time he passes one of the 20 windows of his home, he imagines Jefferson looking into her dark back yard and seeing Dean’s flashlight just before he shot her. These days, Smith retreats to his back yard, where he grows tomatoes, yellow squash and other vegetables. There, he is at least not faced with the house where Jefferson was killed, which is now decorated with banners displaying her name in big letters. Smith has a banner in his yard, too, adorned with a picture of Jefferson’s face and the words, “We Want Justice!!” in silver cursive. Smith, like most Black East Allen residents, has lived in his home for decades. On the south Fort Worth street, many residents inherited their homes from parents or, in Smith’s case, great-grandparents. One resident of East Allen, Leslie “Geronimo” Beasley, described the street where he’s lived for 51 years as a community where everyone not only knows each other — they all know each other’s families. “Every Black person you see here,” Beasley said. “... they been here my whole life, like me.” When Dean shot Jefferson at 1203 East Allen, repercussions rained on Fort Worth. The aftermath fell hardest on Jefferson’s family, Smith and those on the street where Jefferson was killed.