Amber Guyger was handed a 10-year jail sentence in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday for fatally shooting her neighbor in 2018, when she entered his apartment, after mistaking it for her own.

The 31-year-old white former policewoman, who was fired from the force after the incident, had just finished a 13-hour workday and was headed home on the day of the murder.

Guyger told authorities that due to exhaustion, she went to the wrong apartment unit, which was located one floor above hers.

The door was unlocked when she entered the residence and found Botham Jean, a 26-year-old African-American, sitting on the sofa eating ice cream.

Jean, who was unarmed, was shot by Guyger in the chest when he got up from the sofa to face her.

"I ask God for forgiveness, and I hate myself every single day," Guyger said during the trial. "I never wanted to take an innocent person's life."

Shot to kill

Prosecutors argued that the ex-cop missed several opportunities to realize that she was on the wrong floor and that she could have called for back-up. Instead, she shot to kill.

"If Amber Guyger was trained not to shoot in the heart, my son would be alive today. He was no threat to her. He had no reason to be a threat to her, because he was in his own apartment," the victim's mother, Allison Jean, said.

The jury found the former policewoman guilty of murder, a crime that carries a punishment from 5 to 99 years in prison.

Ultimately, Guyger was handed a sentence of 10 years, with the possibility of parole after 5.

Read more: Erica Garner: 'These cops are still killing us'

Brother embraces killer

The case drew widespread attention in the US, due to its unusual circumstances and because it followed a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.

The trial's conclusion was emotional for both parties, as the victim's brother, Brandt Jean, took the stand to tell Guyger that he had forgiven her.

With the permission of the judge, the young man and his brother's killer shared a tearful embrace.

"I forgive you, and I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you. I'm speaking for myself, not my family, but I love you just like anyone else," Jean told Guyger.

jcg/se (AP, Reuters)

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