When we first saw “Jordan Edwards” trending on our TL yesterday, we were expecting to click and discover yet another example of injustice in a long string of cops getting away with murdering unarmed Black people. But this time, our gasps, shouts, and tears were celebratory, rather than sorrowful because 38-year-old Roy Oliver, the former policeman who fired his weapon into the car 15-year-old Jordan was riding in back in April 2017, was found guilty of murder.
According to the CBS news affiliate in Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas, it took approximately 13 hours for a Dallas County jury to unanimously convict Oliver of murder and of the illegal and intentional killing of Jordan Edwards. After the trial, the Edwards’ family attorney Daryl Washington told CBS DFW, “This case isn’t just about Jordan; it’s about Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, for every African American who didn’t get justice.”
Sentencing is underway right now, and the convicted former cop faces five years to life in prison.
UPDATE: The convicted former cop was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but will be eligible for parole in just 7 1/2 years, according to NPR. He also has to pay a fine of $10,000.
“He can actually see life again after 15 years,” Jordan’s stepmother Charmaine Edwards told The Dallas Morning News. “Although we wanted more years, this is a start for us.”
