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Police Shooting: Murder Verdict for Guyger

On October 1, 2019, a Dallas jury returned a verdict of “guilty” in the mistaken identity shooting case of Officer Amber Guyger, who killed her apartment complex neighbor in 2018. Off duty after a grueling 13 hour shift, Officer Guyger entered what she thought was her own apartment, actually one floor below, only to find Botham Jean, her black 26-year-old neighbor, sitting on the couch eating ice cream.

 

Naturally, she shot him. Jean was an accountant and church choir director who immigrated to the US from St Lucia in 2012 to attend a private Christian university, afterward finding employment in Dallas. Guyger, who is white, was 30 at the time, a five–year veteran of Dallas PD.

 

The incident occurred late in the evening of September 6th, 2018, and more than 72 hours passed before Guyger was charged (initially for manslaughter), another three months until a Grand Jury indicted her for murder. Her trial lasted less than two weeks, and pivotal testimony was rendered by another neighbor, Joshua Brown, who stated he had heard nothing of an altercation between them, just the sounds of two people meeting “by surprise”, followed immediately by gunshots. Guyger was sentenced to ten years on October 2; two days later, Brown was shot to death outside his apartment complex, under suspicious circumstances.

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The exterior of Dallas’ South Side Flats, the apartment complex where the shooting took place. Asteroid Dallas was squared death indicator Anubis at the time, and appears opposed Anubis, t-squared Pluto, in the victim’s chart

The bizarre nature of the incident and its aftermath is what drew me to the case. Celestial placements in the birth charts of the officer and her victim, as well as the shooting itself and the trail verdict, show a complex web of interconnection which seems to indicate Fate at work in this tragic circumstance. I will be using PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) Amber and Geiger (homophone for “Guyger”) for the officer, Polizzi and Copland for police generally, Gunn for the weapon, Botha and Jeanne for Botham Jean, as well as Dallas and Texas.

 

Let’s start with the shooting chart on 6 September 2018. Guyger is reported to have placed a 911 call at 9:59 PM CDT, shortly after the shooting. Cast for Dallas, Texas, this yields a chart with a 5 Taurus Ascendant and an MC at 22 Capricorn. This puts Uranus rising at 2 Taurus, ruler of shootings generally, opposing an exact Texas/Polizzi conjunction at 1 Scorpio on the Descendant, accompanied by asteroids Rip and Atropos at 4 and 6 Scorpio respectively. This establishes it as a moment (Ascendant/Descendant axis) focused on an unexpected, shocking shooting (all Uranus) by a Texas police officer (Texas/Polizzi), with deadly results (Rip and Atropos, both death indicators). In T-Square is a conjunction of asteroid Osiris, named for the ancient Egyptian god of the dead, at 1 Leo with the Moon, denoting a female and a domestic environment, at 8 Leo. What else do we need to know?

 

How about the principals? Amber Guyger shows as asteroid Amber at 8 Aries, in a Grand Trine with the Moon at 8 Leo (she’s the female in question) and asteroids Karma and House at 6 and 12 Sagittarius (again setting the domestic scene, with a “fated” component). This becomes a Kite pattern with House exactly opposed asteroid Nemesis, a source of undoing or ruin, at 12 Gemini. Both lives were devastated, Jean’s ended and Guyger now in prison. House and Nemesis also broadly conjoin and oppose asteroid Geiger (for Guyger) at 19 Sagittarius, itself squared Neptune at 15 Pisces, representing the mistaken identity issue. This T-Square becomes a Grand Cross with the inclusion of asteroid Requiem, named for the funeral mass for the dead, at 12 Virgo, conjunct the Sun, the day’s focus and news, at 13 Virgo. Geiger also widely conjoins TNO Ixion at 26 Sag, named for the first murderer in Greek myth.

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The interior of Botham Jean’s apartment; at the shooting, asteroid House was in a precise T-square with Nemesis and Requiem, also incorporating the Sun; Botham Jean’s natal Sun t-squares House and Osiris, while Amber Guyger’s House exactly conjoined transit Nemesis for the shooting

Botham Jean shows as Botha at 26 Libra conjunct Jeanne and Venus, both at 27 Libra. What was Botham Jean doing at the time? Relaxing (Venus), watching TV (entertainment is also Venus-ruled) and eating ice cream (sweets fall under Venus’ purview). These square Mars at 29 Capricorn, ruling violent death and guns, and more broadly square Pluto at 18 Capricorn modern lord of death and planetary ruler of homicide. Both Mars and Pluto conjoin the 22 Cap MC, giving them angular force and prominence in the moment. A T-Square is formed with asteroid Copland at 29 Aries, exactly squared Mars, symbolizing the shooting by police. Botha/Jean/Venus are also in an out-of-Sign conjunction with Texas/Polizzi/Rip/Atropos.

 

Affirming the “death in Dallas” theme is asteroid Dallas at 26 Aquarius exactly squared asteroid Anubis, named for the ancient Egyptian deity ruling funerary rites, at 26 Scorpio. Asteroid Brown, for key witness Joshua Brown, appears at 14 Taurus, approaching its station two weeks later, in a Grand Trine with the Sun/Requiem conjunction and Pluto with asteroid Askalaphus at 20 Capricorn, named for the original whistleblower, who witnessed Persephone’s ingestion of six pomegranate seeds in the Underworld, requiring her annual return. Askalaphus is also at station, about to resume direct motion in ten days. So we have the actual witness and the generic witness united with the day’s events.

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Key witness Joshua Brown, who was himself murdered after the guilty verdict; asteroid Brown appears in a Grand Trine with the Sun, Requiem and Pluto at the shooting

But asteroid Gunn at 3 Virgo is perhaps the most remarkable. It’s given planetary impact by a conjunction with Mercury at 0 Virgo, and is in a T-Square with Karma at 6 Sag and asteroid Lachesis, named for the Greek Fate who determines the span of life, at 4 Gemini. But what’s truly astounding is that this 3 Virgo placement exactly matches its degree in Botham Jean’s birth chart, so he was experiencing a “Gunn Return” when shot! Not only that, but Amber Guyger’s natal Gunn is at 7 Virgo, so she was within orb of her own Gunn Return!

 

Let’s turn to Botham Jean’s chart. Born 29 September 1991 (no time available), the aforementioned natal Gunn at 3 Vigo exactly conjoins Jupiter at 3 Virgo as well as Atropos at 4; put it all together, you have a famous (Jupiter) death (Atropos) by gun violence (Gunn). A precise T-Square of the Sun at 5 Libra with Osiris at 5 Cancer and House at 5 Capricorn hints at a possible death at home.

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Victim Botham Jean, an accountant and church choir director; asteroids Botha and Jeanne were conjunct at the shooting, t-squared Mars and Copland

Ixion at 24 Scorpio conjunct asteroid Icarus at 25 Scorpio suggests a rash or reckless homicide; squared Venus at 25 Leo, this involves a woman. Copland exactly conjunct Requiem at 20 Capricorn suggests a death by police action; this is reinforced by an opposition to Nemesis, Polizzi and Texas at 20, 21 and 26 Cancer – his downfall would be the Texas police. But who, specifically? How about a T-Square formed from this polarity to asteroid Amber at 25 Libra, with Mars at 18! Natal asteroid Brown at 24 Cancer joins the Nemesis/Polizzi/Texas stellium, putting the chief witness on the scene.

 

Natal Botha (for Botham) at 22 Sagittarius is bracketed by transit Geiger and Ixion, at 19 and 25 Sag, bringing together Jean’s first name PNA with the act of murder and the surname of the shooter. Natal asteroid Jeanne (feminine form of surname Jean) at 12 Gemini fits seamlessly into the shooing’s Nemesis/Sun/Requiem/Neptune/Geiger Grand Cross, with Jeanne exactly conjunct Nemesis. Jeanne was at station at Jean’s birth, turning retrograde six days later, an embedded point which accrues action and attracts manifestation throughout the life.

 

Transit Pluto at 18 Cap was exactly sextile its natal degree of 18 Scorpio, which was conjoined by transit Jupiter at 17 Scorpio for the shooting. Natal Anubis at 8 Leo was exactly conjoined by the transit Moon.

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Shooter Amber Guyger at her trial; asteroid Amber at the shooting is in a Kite pattern with the Moon, Karma and Lachesis, named for the Greek Fate who determines the span of life

Amber Guyger was born 9 September 1988 (no time available). The Sun at 17 Leo is conjunct Osiris at 19 Leo, making her a potential agent of death, and is broadly conjoined by Polizzi and Texas at 8 and 9 Leo, signaling her self-identity as a Texas police officer. The Sun was exactly squared by Jupiter at 17 Scorpio for the shooting, bringing her to “fame” (or at least public notoriety), while the transit Moon at 8 Leo conjoined Polizzi/Texas.

 

Natal Botha at 6 Cancer conjoins Copland at 5 and Venus at 2 Cancer, identifying her as a female officer and combining her job with her victim, all of which overlays Botham Jean’s natal Osiris, T-Squared his Sun/House. Natal Jeanne at 29 Cancer opposes natal Amber at 27 Capricorn, showing shooter and victim at odds, and with natal Dallas at 20 Cancer overlays Botham Jean’s natal Nemesis/Polizzi/Texas opposed Requiem/Copland, highlighted by transit Mars at 29 Cap for the shooting. This pattern also incorporates transit Copland at 29 Aries, Jean’s natal Amber/Mars and transit Botha/Jeanne in Libra, which itself conjoins Guyger’s natal Icarus at 23 Libra, suggesting the rashness of her actions. Guyger’s natal Anubis at 1 Scorpio is an exact match for the transit Texas/Polizzi conjunction, exactly squared transit Osiris at 1 Leo. Natal House at 12 Gemini is an exact match for Botham Jean’s natal Jeanne and the shooting’s Nemesis, an incredible instance of three disparate charts which all coincide on one degree with extremely significant markers of the situation – the domestic setting (House), the victim (Jeanne) and the outcome (Nemesis).

 

When the guilty verdict was handed down on October 1, 2019, the transit Sun at 8 Libra had recently conjoined Botham Jean’s natal Sun at 5, squared Guyger’s natal Botha at 6 Cancer. The Sun also forms a loose Grand Cross with Polizzi at 3 Aries, Copland at15 Cancer, and Saturn at 14 Capricorn. Transit Botha at 6 Aquarius is trine the Sun, while transit Jeanne at 25 Pisces opposes transit Mars at 28 Virgo, itself an exact match for Guyger’s natal Nemesis, establishing the shooting death (Mars) of Botham Jean (Jeanne) as her downfall (Guyger’s Nemesis).

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Botham Jean’s 18-year-old brother hugs Amber Guyger after her guilty verdict; asteroid Amber was in a Grand Cross with Osiris/Mercury (a verdict about a death), Dallas and Pluto

Transit Amber at 25 Cancer feeds into the late-Cardinal Grand Cross described above, and is exactly squared by transit Osiris at 25 Libra, joined by transit Mercury at 27 Libra, bringing news of the verdict.  This pairing also reflects Botham Jean’s 18-year-old brother, who inserted himself into the trial dramatically when he hugged Guyger after the verdict, as Mercury/Osiris symbolizes a sibling of the deceased. Transit Geiger at 24 Gemini has recently returned to its natal degree of 20 Gemini, and opposes both transit Guyger at 19 Sagittarius for the shooting and transit Ixion at 26 Sagittarius for the verdict, establishing Guyger as legally guilty of murder. Transit Gunn at 12 Sagittarius highlights the shooting Grand Cross of Nemesis/Sun/Requiem/Geiger/Neptune, Botham Jean’s natal Jeanne, and Amber Guyger’s natal House.

 

An incredible web of cosmic interconnectedness brought these two strangers into life-altering confrontation, with lethal results. Truly, is there anything but Fate?

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A modest floral memorial adorns the door of Botham Jeanne’s apartment

Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, author of The Black Hole Book, detailing deep space points in astrological interpretation, and the forthcoming Heaven on Earth, a comprehensive study of asteroids, both mythic and personal. Alex is a frequent contributor to “The Mountain Astrologer”, “Daykeeper Journal”, and NCGR’s Journals and “Enews Commentary”; his work has also appeared in “Aspects” magazine, “Dell Horoscope”, “Planetwaves”, “Neptune Café” and “Sasstrology.” He is a past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society, and a former board member for the Philadelphia Chapter of NCGR.

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