Atatiana Jefferson’s funeral cancelled at the last minute

Bitter division between the parents of the slain young lady led to a last minute legal injunction of the service

The funeral for Atatiana Jefferson was scheduled to happen on Saturday, October 19th but was cancelled due to a family dispute.

Amanda Washington

Oct 20, 2019

Atatiana Jefferson, who was fatally shot in her home by a Fort Worth, Texas police officer over a week ago, while playing a video game with her 8-year-old nephew, has yet to be laid to rest.

The original funeral was scheduled to happen on Saturday, October 19th but was cancelled due to a family dispute.

Jefferson’s father, Marquis A. Jefferson, was granted a temporary restraining order by a local court halting the funeral services from happening. Her father argued that he was not a part of the planning process for his daughter’s funeral and wanted to be included, according to NBC News.

The funeral was set to take place at Bishop TD Jakes’ church, The Potter’s House of Dallas, where Jakes was going to officiate the service. News of the cancellation came from the Potters House on Saturday morning.

In addition to allegedly being left out of the funeral arrangements, Marquis Jefferson also said he can afford the funeral costs to pay for his daughter’s funeral, but supported jumped at the chance to set up a GoFundMe account seeking monetary donations for Atatiana’s funeral expenses.

After Atatiana’s death, her mother, Yolanda Carr, hired lawyer S. Lee Merritt, to fight in a legal battle for what happened to her daughter.

According to NBC News, Merritt tweeted Saturday that Carr had “hired me to seek justice for her daughter.”

Merritt also spoke with The Dallas Morning News and stated former Dallas Mavericks player Harrison Barnes, his wife, Brittany Barnes, and Philadelphia Eagles player Malik Jackson would cover the costs for the funeral.

Jefferson’s family is due back in court on Monday and the funeral should be held shortly after that Merritt said.

“She has been very ill & unable to make media appearances. We worked hard all week to get her prepared to attend her daughter’s funeral. This has been extremely hard on her.”