Witness in Guyger trial fatally shot, Trump says Perry urged Ukraine call: Your weekend roundup

 [Morning roundup]( 10/06/2019 By Todd Davis and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines of the weekend so far. 🌤️ Weather: Increasing clouds and hot. A 50% chance of showers and storms developing by evening. High of 94. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Leah Waters, a Frisco teacher, donated one of her kidneys last spring to Neelam Bohra, a University of Texas freshman who learned that an autoimmune disease had killed her kidneys. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) PERSONAL ESSAY [She donated her kidney to a stranger. Her past struggles returned. Then came an unexpected friendship]( From staff writer Leah Waters: I could see the stress and disbelief in her parents’ eyes. They must have thought I was crazy, or, at the very least, naive about the consequences of this decision. I bet they saw a woman — little more than a decade older than their daughter — sitting on the floor with a mouthful of chocolate and questioned what kind of person would willingly undergo elective surgery to give their daughter a new organ. Since the operation, some people have called me "hero" or "saint" when they hear what I’ve done. I just nod the way you do when you feel like an impostor. It wasn’t until a few weeks after I gave my kidney to Neelam that anyone bothered to ask me why. When my doctors finally cleared me for work, I was glad I could get back to normal. Back to my students, the growing pile of emails and paperwork, meal prep, loads of laundry and nights out with my friends. [But normal never came](.  Also: ‘Are you afraid of dying?’ [Transgender woman attacked in Dallas tells her story]( for the first time.  ADVERTISEMENT CRIME AND COURTS [Botham Jean's neighbor, a key witness in Amber Guyger trial, shot to death in Dallas]( A key witness in Amber Guyger's murder trial was [shot and killed Friday evening at an apartment complex near Dallas' Medical District]( authorities said. Joshua Brown, a neighbor of Botham Jean's and Guyger at the South Side Flats apartments, was slain about 10:30 p.m. in the 4600 block of Cedar Springs Road. Brown, 28, lived across the hall from Jean and testified about the night he was killed. Dallas County prosecutor Jason Hermus, the lead prosecutor in the Guyger case, said Saturday that Brown stood up at a time when others won't say what they know. "He bravely came forward to testify when others wouldn't, " Hermus said. "If we had more people like him, we would have a better world."  Also: [A Carrollton man]( got 30 years in prison for secretly filming foreign-exchange students.   And: The Texas Seven's [Randy Halprin]( had his execution stayed after attorneys allege the judge in his case was an anti-Semite.  POLITICS [Report: Perry denies mentioning Bidens in discussions with Ukrainians, Trump]( Donald Trump isn't the only Republican concerned with corruption in Ukraine, and now the president is reportedly blaming a Texan for proposing his "perfect" call to the new Ukrainian leader. Energy Secretary and former Gov. Rick Perry, who has become a recurring figure in the Trump administration's dealings with Ukraine, encouraged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to tackle corruption while also urging him to change the way his nation manages its oil and gas interests, Politico recounted in a report posted online Saturday. Trump's dealings with Ukraine — specifically asking Zelenskiy to pursue thus-far unproven corruption allegations against former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — have formed the basis of a U.S House-led impeachment inquiry. In other White House-Ukraine developments, an article posted Saturday by online news agency [Axios reported that Trump told House Republicans that it was Perry who urged him to make the initial phone call to Zelenskiy]( — a call that Trump has characterized as perfect. Watchdog: A cool new Texas law means they [can’t shut you up at government meetings anymore](. Also: [Pete Sessions]( downplays meeting with Soviet-born businessman caught in Trump impeachment inquiry. And: Here's why [Donald Trump won't have to worry]( about a security bill from Dallas for rally. ADVERTISEMENT (Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer) P[HOTO OF THE WEEKEND]( [Still perfect: SMU erases 21-point deficit to beat Tulsa in triple overtime, remain undefeated]( SMU was stopped three times at the goal line. Three tries right from the 1-yard-line. Three runs up the gut and left gutted every time. But on the fourth down try, with the game on the line. Down three touchdowns in the first play of the fourth quarter, Ke'Mon Freeman finally ran it in. That flipped the entire tenor of a game that looked every bit of a flub for SMU. That play started an incredible three-touchdown comeback to tie the game in the fourth quarter. [The Mustangs again came back in overtime after giving up a TD](. They had a defensive stand after Xavier Jones fumbled the ball in double-OT. But in the third overtime James Proche caught a TD pass — a proverbial walk-off — on SMU's second play, and the Mustangs won 43-37. AROUND THE SITE - Is ICE trying to deport this U.S. citizen? [Francisco Gallicia]( remains in limbo 2 months after release. - Politics: [Elections in Dallas County]( are about to change in two big ways. - Retail: Serious about getting a temporary holiday retail job? [You may want to apply now](. FINALLY... [Leatherology, run by Dallas-area siblings, is hitting its stride with its latest collaboration]( Rae Liu and David Liu were born and raised in Far North Dallas and went to Plano schools. Then, like so many of their peers, they went off to find their places in the world. Instead, the sister and brother discovered that they had learned enough to come back home to Texas and build a family business full time. Leatherology, an online superstore of 200 styles of men's and women's leather accessories that come plain or personalized, is based in a 75,000-square-foot combination office/warehouse on Plano Parkway. [The siblings were raised in an entrepreneurial household](.  👋 That's all for this morning! 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