Murder warrant issued for Balch Springs officer who killed teen

The fired Balch Springs police officer who shot and killed a 15-year-old in a car leaving a party has been charged with murder, law enforcement officials confirmed to FOX4.

The murder warrant for Roy Oliver was signed Friday afternoon by a Dallas judge. He turned himself in to the Parker County Jail with his lawyer around 7 p.m. and was released shortly after on $300,000 bond.

"The warrant was issued due to evidence that suggested Mr. Oliver intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death of the individual," the Dallas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Jordan Edwards, a Mesquite High School freshman, was shot while he was in a car that was leaving a party Saturday night.

Oliver claimed he was investigating a call about underage drinking when Edwards and his brothers allegedly aggressively backed towards him in a car. But his body camera footage told a different story and police were forced to take back that version of events on Monday.

Chief Jonathan Haber fired Oliver on Tuesday saying he “violated several department policies.”

Throughout the week pressure has been building for a murder charge against Oliver. The Texas Legislative Black Caucus joined other voices Thursday in calling the shooting a murder and wanting Oliver arrested.

“It really is murder at the end of the day,” said State Rep. Helen Giddings (D-Duncanville).

The Dallas County District Attorney's office had been inundated late in the week with calls from across the nation demanding a murder charge. A murder charge for an officer in the state of Texas is extremely unusual, legal experts told FOX4.

Dallas County Sheriff's officials said the investigation into Edwards' death would continue and not stop with the arrest of Oliver.

The 16-year-old driver of the vehicle on Saturday night was Jordan Edwards’ older brother. The teen was grilled for hours by detectives after the shooting, said the boy’s attorney, Jasmine Crockett, in an interview with FOX4.

“What he shared that mattered was that at no point in time was that vehicle moving towards any officer,” Crockett said. “He also explained that the shot that killed his brother came through the passenger side window.”

The lawyer said things started happening very quickly on Saturday night.

“They were stopping the vehicle at the time the officer yelled, ‘Stop, motherf***er and get out of the car,’” Crockett said. “This inexperienced driver is trying to put it in park so that he could get out. Before he can even put it into park, the officer started shooting at the vehicle. He shot three times, according to the driver, and then he proceeded to drive once the officer started shooting.”

Jordan’s funeral services will be held this weekend and are not open to the public.

The Edwards family released a statement saying they need time to grieve and did not want any protests, rallies or vigils in his name until he is buried.

"We need time to exhale to allow Jordan's death to be our own loss before we share this loss with the world," the family said. "Though we understand what his life and death mean symbolically, we are not ready to make a martyr of our son."

Oliver has filed a notice of intent to appeal to get back his job.