UPDATE 1-Former Dallas cop in wrong-apartment slaying trial breaks down on stand

A former Dallas police officer testifying in her own defense on a murder charge wept in the courtroom on Friday as she began to reenact the incident in which she killed her unarmed neighbor in his own apartment after she entered by accident. The judge called for a recess but the former officer, Amber Guyger, yelled out "keep going!" as she was visibly shaking and tried to choke back tears. The judge called for a break anyway.

Guyger, 31, was coming off a 13-1/2 hour shift when she walked into the central Dallas apartment of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old black PwC accountant, and shot him as he ate ice cream, thinking he was a burglar in her apartment one floor lower. Guyger, who is white, said she mistakenly thought she had parked on her own level in her apartment building's parking garage after her shift. "I kept thinking I was so lucky" for finding a spot next to the entry door, she said, making it easier to carry her gear into her apartment.

It is relatively rare for criminal defendants to testify in their own defense at trial since it subjects them to cross-examination by prosecutors who will attempt to poke holes in their story. The shooting, one of a series of high-profile killings of unarmed black men and teens by white U.S. police, sparked street protests, particularly after prosecutors initially moved to charge Guyger with manslaughter, a charge for killing without malice that carries a lesser sentence than murder.

In contrast to cases like the killings of Michael Brown in Missouri and Philando Castile in Minnesota, Guyger shot Jean, while she was off duty, rather than while responding to a reported crime. During the trial, Guyger's defense attorney, Robert Rogers, said she was "on autopilot" after a long workday on Sept. 6, 2018, when she mistakenly parked on the wrong floor in the garage and was able to enter Jean's apartment because he had left the door slightly ajar.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Hermus told the jury of four men and 12 women that Guyger missed blatant clues that she was not in her own apartment - including the smell of marijuana smoke - because she was distracted after a 16-minute phone conversation on her commute with her former police partner. The two had had a romantic relationship the previous year, according to her partner's testimony. Guyger testified Friday that the call with her former partner was in relation to work that day that included helping apprehend three robbery suspects.

Prosecutors also raised the question of why Guyger did not try to revive Jean after she knew she had shot an innocent man, underscoring to jurors that there are photos showing Guyger outside using her phone at the very moment responding officers worked to save Jean.

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