A 10-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department has been indicted by a grand jury on an aggravated assault charge following the shooting death of 21-year-old Genevive Ann Dawes on Jan. 18 at the Five Trees Apartments near Munger Boulevard.
Police at the time said Dawes was seated behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle. When Officer Christopher Hess, 39, approached, he said Dawes threw the car into reverse, plowing into his patrol car before pulling forward through a lattice fence. Hess said he opened fire when Dawes put the car back into reverse, toward the officers. Hess and his partner fired 13 shots into the car, hitting Dawes multiple times, including a shot to the neck, The Dallas Morning News reports.
But Dawes’ family denies that version of events. They told the Dallas Morning News that she had owned the car for a month and had no idea it was stolen. They also said that Hess ran his patrol car into her vehicle, not the other way around, something they say is supported in the officer’s body camera video. They have filed a wrongful-death suit against the city, DMN reports. The second officer involved in the shooting was not indicted.
