HOUSTON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- A former U.S. police officer in Dallas, Texas, the United States was indicted on a murder charge on Friday for killing an unarmed man in his apartment, according to court records.
A Dallas County grand jury delivered the indictment Friday after considering the evidence against Amber Guyger who killed the 26-year-old Botham Jean on Sept. 6.
Court records show the indictment was a "grand jury referral," indicating that prosecutors sought a murder count instead of the manslaughter charge Guyger was arrested by Texas Rangers, according to local newspaper Dallas Morning Post.
The upgraded charge carries a punishment of up to life in prison. A charge of manslaughter would have carried a penalty of up to 20 years.
Guyger, 30, had just finished her shift on the night of Sept. 6 when she entered Jean's home and shot him as he watched a late-night football game.
Guyger told authorities she thought Jean's apartment was her own and believed he was a burglar. Jean lived in the apartment directly above Guyger's in Dallas, a city in the U.S. state of Texas.
Guyger was arrested on a manslaughter charge on Sept. 9, three days after the shooting, and was booked into the Kaufman County Jail.
The attorneys for the Jean family, who are representing them in the federal lawsuit they filed against Guyger and the city of Dallas, have said they are hopeful for a murder indictment.
