Amber Guyger distracted by call with partner before she shot neighbor

• The trial of ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger started on Monday. She faces murder charges in the death of her neighbor, Botham Jean.
• Prosecutors said Guyger was distracted by a call from her partner, who she was romantically involved with at the time, when she mistakenly parked on the wrong floor of her building’s lot, NBC News reported.
• Her defense attorneys said that distraction led Guyger to enter the wrong floor of her apartment and walk into Jean’s apartment, thinking it was her own. She then shot him dead, thinking he was an intruder.
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Prosecutors revealed that ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger was distracted by a phone call with her partner, who she was romantically involved with, just before she entered the wrong apartment and shot her neighbor dead.

Meanwhile, her defense attorneys say she mistakenly entered the wrong apartment and thought he was an intruder.

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The trial of 31-year-old Amber Guyger got underway on Monday. She faces murder charges in the death of 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean. She is white; he was black.

In their opening statements, reported by NBC News, prosecutors revealed that Guyger had been in a relationship with her partner at the Dallas Police Department, Martin Rivera. They said that she had been on a phone call with him when she was parking her car, and the distraction caused her to park on the wrong floor of the lot and subsequently enter Jean’s apartment, located a floor directly above her own.

Guyger is not fighting the allegation that she killed Jean by a mistake. But her lawyers are arguing that it wasn’t a criminal one.

During their opening statements, they downplayed her relationship with Rivera, saying it was fizzling out at the time.

But prosecutors shared a text message Guyger sent Rivera four hours before the shooting that said she was “super horny today,” the Dallas Morning News reported. The two officers deleted the messages after the shooting, Fox 4 reported.

What really caused her to make the mistake, her lawyers argued, was a long day of work. They said she worked more than 13 hours and was on “autopilot” when she got back to her apartment.

Read more: ‘Our prince royal was snatched from us by the quick-to-trigger finger’: Dallas cop shooting victim Botham Jean’s uncle gives rousing speech at his memorial service

“What was going through Amber’s mind was that, ‘I’m done with my day’s work. I’m going home,'” her attorney, Robert Rogers, said, according to NBC News.

At the time, the shooting made national news as activists called it an example of how police treat black people differently.

Shortly after her arrest, Guyger was fired from the department. If convicted, Guyger faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.