In Arkansas, while attending college, Jean was involved in the College Church of Christ. ?He led singing often in HU Chapel and at the College Church of Christ in Searcy,? Glenn Dillard, Harding?s assistant vice president for enrollment management, said to The Christian Chronicle. ?He had a beautiful voice.?
Tracy Moore, a preacher who knew Jean through church, told the Christian news site, ?I used to go to the Caribbean Lectures and met him there. An impressive young man. A powerful singer and always a spirit of joy that flowed from him.? Christian Chronicle reported that Jean and his family are involved in Church of Christ in Saint Lucia as well. He was known for running the technology for a series of church lectures in the Caribbean.
He appears in this video of a church lecture.
3. Botham Shem Jean Studied Accounting at a Christian College in Arkansas & Was a Leader on Campus Who ?Really Stood Out?
On Facebook, Botham Shem Jean wrote that he had studied ?accountancy? at Harding University. He also studied at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, went to St. Mary?s College, and was from Castries, Saint Lucia. At St. Mary?s, Jean studied accounting and mathematics, and was the Young Leaders president and on the debate teams and in the choir.
His Facebook page said that he had lived in Searcy, Arkansas. He wrote in 2013, ?I miss St. Lucian food :( I really want a breadfruit, dasheen, greenfig and saltfish now.?
The posts from Arkansas, which are a couple years old, include updates from Jean that say things like this, ?8 hours of accounting?coming right up.? Harding University is a private college in Searcy, so it appears Jean was there to study accounting several years ago. A former classmate confirmed this in an email to Heavy, writing, ?I went to Harding with Botham. I can confirm he graduated from there and was living in Dallas. A great leader on our campus and will be missed.?
The university released a statement to the Dallas Morning News that read, ?We?re all deeply grieved. He was just one of those people who really stood out, with his voice and his leadership.? Arielle Butler wrote on Twitter, ?I was lucky enough to attend the same university as Botham and he was an awesome guy and leader. No one in the world deserves to meet their end in this way.?
He graduated from college in 2015, news reports say. ?I always saw Botham around campus. He always wanted to lead in chapel in whatever way he could. He was always so nice and so kind. He was definitely a light at Harding ? one who I could never forget. Prayers for his family and friends,? wrote Amy Johnson on Twitter.
Another man who knew Botham in college wrote Heavy, ?Botham was a member of social club Sub T-16, one of the oldest and largest social clubs at Harding University. Their signature pose is the thumb at the chest? From what I?ve been told, he was loved by everyone in his club, and a fair portion of the current professors at Harding are Sub T-16 alumni.? He did not want his name printed so as to keep the focus on Jean.
His page also says he worked for a company named Harris Paints. More recently, according to his LinkedIn page, Botham Shem Jean was working for the major consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas, Texas, as a ?title risk assurance experienced associate.? He had held the position since July 2016, his page says, but had worked for the company since 2015.
?This is a terrible tragedy. Botham Jean was a member of the PwC family in our Dallas office and we are simply heartbroken to hear of his death,? PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a statement.
4. Jean?s Uncle Wrote About His Nephew, ?the World Is at Your Door? & His University Says He Was a Worship Leader on Campus
His uncle Earl commented on his thread three years ago that the future looked very bright for Jean.
?Good looking and intelligent young Jean?.the world is at your door?But everything in Gods timing. ..always proud of you!!? wrote Earl Jean on one of Jean?s Facebook photos, showing him smiling in a business suit, as many of his pictures did.
On Twitter, Jean?s cover photo reads ?Resist.? His tweets are private. ?IzaLucian 🇱🇨 ? Can do anything, Can?t do everything,? his profile reads.
His mother, who still lives in St. Lucia, wrote, ?Looking good my son!? Other comment threads similarly filled with flattery. ?Look up Man in the dictionary and this photo will be next to it,? wrote one friend. ?Presidential photo,? wrote one.
?This boy is and WILL ALWAYS BE a STAR!!!? wrote a woman named Desi Charles.
Harding University said Jean was a member of the Good News Signers, a resident assistant and an intern for the Rock House campus ministry while at the school. He also was a leader in Sub T-16, a men?s social club. He often led worship at the chapel and campus events.
?At Lectureship one year, I asked him to lead singing one night. Because of the subject, there was a particular old hymn that I asked him if he would mind leading,? Harding President Bruce McLarty said. ?He didn?t say anything about not knowing the song, but he had never heard it before in his life. He came up that evening and was just smiling and excited about leading it. He told me he had never heard the song before, but that day, he called back to St. Lucia and asked his grandmother to teach him that old hymn on the phone. So he shared it with us at Lectureship that night, and it was a truly special moment.?
Harding said in a statement, ?The entire Harding family grieves today for the loss of Botham, who has meant so very much to us. Please join us in praying for Botham?s friends and family and for all who were touched by his extraordinary life.?
Sophia Pickle, who attended Harding with Jean, told the Dallas Morning News, ?He was amazing. He was wonderful. He was every good thing that you can imagine.? She said she remembered attending a Halloween party with Jean. ?It?s a Christian school, so we weren?t allowed to dance, we weren?t allowed to drink or smoke. So at this block party, we just had coffee there, then he and I went to McDonald?s for milkshakes.?
She added, ?People don?t know the person, so they say, ?Oh, maybe he did something.? If he was there in his apartment, then I guarantee he would have been respectful; he would have had his hands up.?
5. The Police Officer, Who Has Been on the Force for 5 Years, Is on Administrative Leave
According to the Dallas police statement, the officer ?was not injured and will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.? The officer, whose name has not been released, has worked for the department for five years, police said in a statement. She had finished a 12-hour shift at some point before the shooting after working overtime because she made a late arrest, police said. A written statement from the police department said the officer was ?tired? and thought she was in her apartment, but at a press conference, Chief Renee Hall would not confirm that the officer being tired was the reason she went to the wrong apartment.
Hall did not provide any other information about the officer other than saying she is a ?Caucasian female? who worked in the patrol division.
Many people on social media have expressed outrage over the bizarre circumstances of Botham Shem Jean?s senseless death.
?The tears won?t stop flowing for #BothamShemJean 😔 he was chilling in his own house, minding his business! This officer should be in JAIL!!!!? wrote one woman. ?Now in America if a cop mistakenly walks into YOUR home? You will get shot? Because hey? This is ?merica. #BothamShemJean,? wrote another.
?The Dallas Police Department is conducting a joint investigation with the District Attorney?s Office. This investigation is ongoing and we will release additional details as they become available and it is appropriate to do so,? police wrote.
?Super scary because the police are supposed to protect you and then they come home and, you know, you?re just hanging out in your own house and then they come home thinking they?re home or whatever. I don?t know if she was tired but that?s pretty scary,? Richard Healy Nelson, who lives in the complex, told Fox 4 News.
On social media, people expressed confusion how the officer could have thought Jean?s apartment was her own. ?So getting this straight, you ?accidentally? walk into someone else?s apt (how do you get in?) shoot them dead, realize then it wasn?t your apt, be like ?oh my bad?? Y?all had identical furniture & family photos? #BothamShemJean,? wrote one man.
Omar Suleiman, a Dallas-based activist, wrote on Facebook that a vigil would be held Friday night at the Dallas Police Headquarters at 7 p.m. ?You don?t just get to walk in someone?s house, shoot them dead, and say whoops I