With portrait and room, Botham Jean's former Dallas coworkers hold on to his memory

Andrew Veazey looks at artwork of Botham Jean as it hangs hangs on the wall on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at the PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Dallas. (Shaban Athuman / Staff Photographer)

Jean's former colleagues at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas are among the people who have sought to keep his memory alive.

Story by the Dallas Morning News
Written by Melissa Repko

The portrait of Botham Jean will stay on the wall long after the national news cameras leave town and the headlines fade. It's made of pieces of oak from Jean's adopted home of Texas and painted with vibrant colors of his native St. Lucia.

In the artwork, the forever 26-year-old looks across the room with a smile.

Jean's former colleagues at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers are among the people who have sought to keep his memory alive since he was shot and killed last year by former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger. When the firm opened its new Dallas office, it named a room after him.

On Tuesday night, it unveiled his portrait in front of Jean's parents and siblings, his former colleagues and his legal team. The preplanned ceremony was just hours after a jury found Guyger guilty of murder.

When the drape was pulled, family and friends saw a likeness of Jean. It's made with more than 10,000 pieces of wood that fit together like a puzzle. Some colleagues cried. Some took photos. Jean's father, Bertram, approached the portrait of his son and touched it.