DALLAS — The judge who gave a hug and Bible to a former Dallas police officer after she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing her neighbor said Monday she watched the woman change during her trial and wants her to live a purposeful life. Judge Tammy Kemp said she had never previously acknowledged her Christian faith to a defendant or given one a Bible, but Amber Guyger said she didn’t have one at the end of her trial for the September 2018 killing of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean.

Kemp said she felt her actions were appropriate since the trial was over. “She asked me if I thought that God could forgive her and I said, ‘Yes, God can forgive you and has,’” Kemp said. “If she wanted to start with the Bible, I didn’t want her to go back to the jail and to sink into doubt and self-pity and become bitter,” she said. “Because she still has a lot of life ahead of her following her sentence and I would hope that she could live it purposefully.”

Critics contend that it was unethical of Kemp to hug Guyger and give her the Bible. One group asked for a judicial misconduct investigation, and activists said the hug took the focus off anger at a police killing.

Guyger, 31, had just worked a long shift and was in her uniform when she entered Jean’s apartment and shot the 26-year-old accountant. She testified she had mistaken his fourth-floor apartment for her own.

After Guyger was sentenced and the jury left the courtroom, Jean’s brother, Brandt Jean, was allowed to address Guyger. He told her he forgave her and that Botham would have wanted her to devote her life to Christianity before the two shared a tearful embrace. Soon after that, Kemp walked over to the defense table to speak with Guyger.

Kemp said Guyger asked twice if she could hug her and, after a moment’s hesitation, the judge wrapped her arms around her. “Following my own convictions, I could not refuse that woman a hug. I would not,” said Kemp, who is black. “ ... And I guess I could say if you profess religious beliefs and you are going to follow them, I would hope that they not be situational and limited to one race only.”

By Associated Press