Texas Officer Who Fatally Shot Black Teen Is Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison

Former Balch Springs Police Officer Roy Oliver, foreground left, stands next to defense attorney Miles Brissette, right, after being sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, on Wednesday.

Rose Baca / AP

A jury in Texas sentenced former police officer Roy Oliver to 15 years in prison for the murder last year of an unarmed black teenager.

Oliver was a police officer in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs when the shooting took place in April of last year. He and his partner responded to reports of underage drinking. Oliver fired his weapon five times at a moving vehicle. Jordan Edwards, 15, in the front passenger seat, was shot in the head and killed.

Oliver, who was dismissed by the department, has said he believed the vehicle was moving toward his partner, endangering him.