Breonna Taylor, Louisville EMT, killed in botched police raid

Attorneys claim LMPD officers killed 26-year-old EMT in 'botched' police raid

"Had Breonna Taylor been killed by anyone except police, the person or persons responsible for her death would have been charged with a homicide," defense attorney Rob Eggert said in

www.wdrb.com

Attorneys claim LMPD officers killed 26-year-old EMT in 'botched' police raid



But an attorney for Kenneth Walker claims police conducted an improper raid, which led to officers shooting an innocent woman eight times, killing her. The woman, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, was a certified EMT working at two local hospitals.

Defense attorney Rob Eggert said police burst in Taylor's home without announcing their presence and fired at least 22 times, with bullets going into neighboring apartments, and “it was incredible that Mrs. Taylor was the only one killed.”

“Had Breonna Taylor been killed by anyone except police, the person or persons responsible for her death would have been charged with a homicide,” Eggert said in a court document, also alleging Walker is a “victim of police misconduct.”

Taylor’s family says neither Walker nor Taylor was involved in drugs and believe police were looking for someone else.

“These are two good kids,” said Bianca Austin, Taylor’s aunt. “This is incompetent police work. My niece lost her life over this.”

Austin said LMPD has not given the family any answers as to what happened.

An attorney representing the family, Sam Aguiar, said police were actually looking for someone else and other officers had picked the suspect up at his home in a separate raid shortly before the shooting.

Breonna Taylor: Louisville EMT Killed in Botched Police Raid, Lawyer Says

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician (EMT), was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police officers on March 13 during a raid on her home with boyfriend Kenneth Walker.

heavy.com

Breonna Taylor: Louisville EMT Killed in Botched Police Raid, Lawyer Says

Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old emergency medical technician (EMT) who was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police on March 13 during a late-night raid on her home where her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was also sleeping.

Walker, who was arrested and charged with attempted homicide on accusations he shot one of the police officers during the raid, is being defended by attorney Rob Eggert. Eggert told local news station WDBR that Walker was acting in self-defense and said Taylor’s death was the result of “police misconduct.”

Walker has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

1. Taylor, Who Also Worked for Two Hospitals, Wrote That She Loved Helping Others

On her Facebook page, Taylor described her love for helping others. “Working in health care is so rewarding! It makes me so happy when I know I’ve made a difference in someone else’s life!” she said.

2. Taylor Was Shot Shortly After She Was Awakened by the Raid

According to reports from the local WDRB TV station, officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Criminal Interdiction Division used a battering ram to break down the door and rushed into the house on Springfield Drive at 1 a.m., waking Taylor and her boyfriend, Walker. Walker shot at the officers, wounding one, and the three who entered fired some 22 shots back, according to Eggert, Walker’s defense attorney; Taylor was shot eight times and died.

According to Walker’s lawyer, Walker shot back in self-defense because he said police did not announce themselves. His lawyer wrote to the court that Walker “wishes to exonerate himself. His girlfriend was killed in a hail of police bullets while naked and he himself simply acted to try to protect himself.”

3. Walker Is Accused of Attempted Murder

Walker, 27, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault after police say he shot Sgt. John Mattingly; Mattingly survived and underwent surgery for his injuries.

Walker pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer argued that he acted in self-defense because he didn’t know who was at the door.

“Had Mr. Walker known that police were outside he would have opened the door and ushered them in,” Eggert told the Courier Journal, adding that no drugs were found, the home belonged to Taylor and Walker wasn’t even the target of the police’s search warrant.

Sam Aguiar, a lawyer for Taylor’s family, told WDRB that it was a case of misidentification and that he believed officers were looking for someone else connected to a different raid.

4. Taylor’s Death Sparked Sadness and Outrage

Taylor’s sister, Tracy Chapman, has posted messages seeking #JusticeforBree often, and Taylor was recently featured on a Facebook page “The Misidentified 4 – Louisville.”

5. Police Say the Matter Is Being Investigated

In an email to WDRB, LMPD Chief Steve Conrad declined to discuss the “incident that resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death” due to the pending Public Integrity investigation. However, he did note that no camera footage was available for the incident, because Criminal Interdiction Division officers do not wear them.

Mattingly, Det. Myles Cosgrove and Det. Brent Hankison have all been placed on administrative leave. One of them, Cosgrove, was sued for excessive force by a man he shot in 2006 at a Speedway gas station; Cosgrove won the suit.

At a press conference held 15 hours after the shooting, Conrad said, “We are extremely fortunate that our officer John Mattingly was not more seriously injured. We have no body-worn video cameras to share with you … even without the videos, our Public Integrity Unit will conduct a complete review of this case.”https://www.facebook.com/dialog/sha...om/news/2020/05/breonna-taylor/&display=popup

 

[Howell]

You may believe this or not, but I have not decided what I think about this. To me, it sounds like they were at a house they should not have been at to begin with but I am waiting to hear more on that, if we ever do. I think that may be the bigger issue here. I am also undecided on no knock warrants. If a child was in danger, say abducted, that 15 seconds could give the time for the abductor to kill the child and his/her self. I don't think there is an easy blanket answer and they have to carefully craft whatever they change to cover certain circumstances i guess is where I stand at the moment.

I believe what you have to say, GB. We have our differences on that other case, but I don't doubt your sincerity.
If these warrants were being issued only in extraordinary cases where someone was in imminent danger, I could support them, but that just isn't how they're being used.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I believe what you have to say, GB. We have our differences on that other case, but I don't doubt your sincerity.
If these warrants were being issued only in extraordinary cases where someone was in imminent danger, I could support them, but that just isn't how they're being used.

And I can agree with that. It is why I think no no knock warrants at all could possibly go too far the other way but they are abused in being able to be used in perhaps too many cases and without proper cause or oversight. I don't think with most things there is a blanket easy answer. Just as I don't think no LE is an answer, but neither are some of the PDs and systems that exist now in some places the answer either. There needs to be a middle ground and not just swinging too far to the other extreme. All cases are different.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Beyoncé Demands Justice for Breonna Taylor in Powerful Letter to Kentucky's Attorney General

"Don't let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy," Beyoncé said

people.com

 

[kdg411]

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has initiated termination proceedings against Louisville Metro Police Det. Brett Hankison, Fisher said in a statement without elaborating.

Breonna Taylor: Louisville seeks to fire police officer in shooting

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Impatience grows for cops’ arrests in Breonna Taylor’s death

The outcry has reverberated for weeks online and at demonstrations nationwide: Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor. But three months after plainclothes detectives serving a warrant busted into her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment and shot the 26-year-old Black woman to death, only one of...

www.theatlantavoice.com

Impatience grows for cops’ arrests in Breonna Taylor’s death

The outcry has reverberated for weeks online and at demonstrations nationwide: Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.

But three months after plainclothes detectives serving a warrant busted into her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment and shot the 26-year-old Black woman to death, only one of the three officers who opened fire has lost his job. No one is facing criminal charges.



Taylor’s death March 13 has attracted attention from stars like Lizzo, Jada Pinkett Smith and Beyoncé, who wrote an open letter last week urging Kentucky’s attorney general to move swiftly. Millions have signed an online petition demanding justice for Taylor.

“They murdered that girl in her own house,” said Ashley Kidwell, who drove up from Atlanta to join Louisville protests in early June. “We’re going into July, and there’s been no justice served.”

Attorney General Daniel Cameron, whose office is reviewing the investigation by Louisville police, has declined to offer a timetable.

“An investigation of this magnitude, when done correctly, requires time and patience,” Cameron, Kentucky’s first Black attorney general, said last week.

The FBI also is investigating the officers’ actions and exploring potential civil rights violations.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Louisville mayor won’t speak on charges in Breonna Taylor case

(CNN) — Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer won’t say if he believes the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death should be charged but says he hopes the state’s attor…

www.tristatehomepage.com

Louisville mayor won’t speak on charges in Breonna Taylor case

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer won’t say if he believes the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s shooting death should be charged but says he hopes the state’s attorney general weighs in on the matter soon.

“What we need to know is what the FBI and the Attorney General came out with. This is a tragedy. Breonna Taylor should not be dead, okay? One of the officers was terminated because of the facts that indicated that could take place. The rest of this is with the AG. I’m as frustrated as anybody about how long this is taking. But that is the course in Kentucky law under which this takes place,” Fischer said.

When asked why officials in Kentucky have been slow to respond to Taylor’s death, Fisher cited the absence of body camera footage.

The officers were not wearing body cameras because they were undercover narcotics agents – a policy that has since changed with the passing of Breonna’s Law.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Breonna's family (I think) was getting so upset they only have released selected bits and pieces that they recently released a video of the entire arrest of her boyfriend AFTER she was killed iin the parking lot... It is SOMETHING else. One man and about an army and dog, etc. Cops everywhere, various LE vehicles everywhere. And it went on for a LONGGGG time... Give me a minute, I saw it on Scott Reisch yesterday, I will see if I can find it and at what point of his video it is in...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Here it is about 10 minutes in, it starts. This entire vid is worth a watch, he touches shortly on many current cases here and is on a ranch with horses snorting lol. So not typical Scott. But if you just want to watch the Brionna case part with very intense actual video AND sound, start at about ten minutes...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Scott Reisch about 17.5 minutes in for Breonna. Interview audios are out for one that he is linking and he remarks on more...

 

[GarAndMo39]

Breonna Taylor scene photos show dozens of bullet holes

• NBC News
• Sep 7, 2020 Updated Sep 7, 2020
• <snip>

<Snip>
The photos also reveal that at least one officer at the scene, Anthony James, was wearing a body camera. Police previously said no body camera video existed, because officers were not wearing cameras.
<snip>

Breonna Taylor scene photos show dozens of bullet holes

Evidence photos from the shooting scene at Breonna Taylor's apartment show bullet holes throughout the apartment.

www.wpsdlocal6.com

 

[GarAndMo39]

Breonna Taylor shooting: 1,200-plus new crime scene photos tell a story of a chaotic night
<snip>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The shell casings were scattered everywhere.

Twenty casings littered the breezeway outside the Louisville apartment where Breonna Taylor was shot and killed on March 13.

There was one more on the stairs outside her front door. Another eight lay scattered near the sidewalk to her patio. And six more came to rest between a Roto-Rooter van and a gray pickup truck in the parking lot a few feet away from Taylor's ground-floor residence.


Other images show her shattered screen door, with at least five bullet holes puncturing the glass and the curtains hanging inside that covered the patio door glass. And in the breezeway, under the outdoor stairs, lay the battering ram police used to break in Taylor's front door.

Together, the stark images reflect a chaotic scene that the public has heard described many times in police and witness accounts in the months following Taylor's death — but rarely seen.

<snip>

Breonna Taylor shooting: 1,200-plus new crime scene photos tell a story of a chaotic night

The images provide a closer look at the Springfield Drive apartment, as well as a visualization of where shooting officers were located.

www.courier-journal.com

There is no earthly reason for this, IMO. I'm literally stunned at the number of shots that were, IMO, carelessly fired. (there is a 70 page slide show at link). Did these people even CARE about how many lives that could have been lost? I'm not trying to be political- I just feel this is extremely frightening, and I hope nothing like this happens again. JMHO.
(Edited for spelling error)

 

[GrandmaBear]

Breonna Taylor shooting: 1,200-plus new crime scene photos tell a story of a chaotic night
<snip>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The shell casings were scattered everywhere.

Twenty casings littered the breezeway outside the Louisville apartment where Breonna Taylor was shot and killed on March 13.

There was one more on the stairs outside her front door. Another eight lay scattered near the sidewalk to her patio. And six more came to rest between a Roto-Rooter van and a gray pickup truck in the parking lot a few feet away from Taylor's ground-floor residence.


Other images show her shattered screen door, with at least five bullet holes puncturing the glass and the curtains hanging inside that covered the patio door glass. And in the breezeway, under the outdoor stairs, lay the battering ram police used to break in Taylor's front door.

Together, the stark images reflect a chaotic scene that the public has heard described many times in police and witness accounts in the months following Taylor's death — but rarely seen.

<snip>

Breonna Taylor shooting: 1,200-plus new crime scene photos tell a story of a chaotic night

The images provide a closer look at the Springfield Drive apartment, as well as a visualization of where shooting officers were located.

www.courier-journal.com

There is no earthly reason for this, IMO. I'm literally stunned at the number of shots that were, IMO, carelessly fired. (there is a 70 page slide show at link). Did these people even CARE about how many lives that could have been lost? I'm not trying to be political- I just feel this is extremely frightening, and I hope nothing like this happens again. JMHO.
(Edited for spelling error)

This case is very concerning. It is tragic she is dead but it is absolutely amazing with all of these shots that seem almost willy nilly and panicked and overkill that they killed no one else. Add to that the way it sounds--that they did not even have the correct address nor cause--and this case deserves to be looked into, as is happening. Every case is different imo but this one I just do not see any excuse for.

I think undercover is necessary, I think in certain situations with very valid proof that the element of surprise is necessary and I entirely believe that self defense by an officer of both him/herself and the public is necessary but I also think there should be a very high standard for things like raids and very accurate info and planning. It appears not to be the case here whatsoever, this seems riddled with errors. BIG ones.

And the required wearing and use of body cam should be required!!

 

[GrandmaBear]

A lot of food for thought here. A multi-million dollar development?? While I would never fault anyone for suing for wrongful death, etc., wanting justice would seem primary and no charges yet... No opinion really, just absorbing it...

Breonna Taylor's Family Reaches $12 Million Settlement After Fatal Shooting by Louisville Police

Authorities continue to investigate whether to bring charges against three officers named in a wrongful death lawsuit

people.com

 

[kdg411]

A lot of food for thought here. A multi-million dollar development?? While I would never fault anyone for suing for wrongful death, etc., wanting justice would seem primary and no charges yet... No opinion really, just absorbing it...

Breonna Taylor's Family Reaches $12 Million Settlement After Fatal Shooting by Louisville Police

Authorities continue to investigate whether to bring charges against three officers named in a wrongful death lawsuit

people.com

No criminal charges yet Tamika Powell settled for $12M? for Breonna's life??

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

It's a step forward, IMO. Criminal charges can still be filed, and the family is still looking for that to happen.



The settlement will include police reforms like changes to the approval process for and execution of search warrants, a housing credit program to provide incentives for officers to live in certain low-income areas in the city and the expansion of random drug testing of officers. In addition, social workers will be hired to assist with dispatched runs.

"It's important to note here that a financial settlement was nonnegotiable without significant police reform, and that's what we were able to do today," Baker said, adding that there is still work to be done.

Baker thanked Fischer for committing to the reforms and said it was "unheard of" to reach an agreement of this type in a civil lawsuit.

Crump and Baker said they are still demanding that the state attorney general, who is leading the investigation, bring charges against the three white officers who shot into Taylor's apartment. At the very minimum, Crump said, they should face second-degree manslaughter charges.


Palmer, who, along with her attorneys, wore a black mask with Taylor's name in white lettering, spoke briefly at the news conference.

"As significant as today is, it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna," Palmer said. "We must not lose focus on what the real job is. It's time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more."

City of Louisville reaches $12 million settlement with Breonna Taylor's family

"As significant as today is," said Breonna Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, "it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna."

www.nbcnews.com

 

[GrandmaBear]

Still absorbing. I am not going to knock a settlement in the case, if wrong was done then wrong was done and they have that right to sue and since no charges yet have been brought, it is understandable it was went ahead with I guess. Insisting that there also be change is good but I find some of the changes a bit strange? I also guess one would normally expect a settlement after a criminal trial but it is not always the case and in this case, again, no charges have yet been brought.

Giving officers an incentive to live in lower income areas? Do all people want them living in their area off duty? What good does that do? An off duty officer residing there for what purpose exactly? I guess I can see what the thought maybe is there, to have them get to know others and neighborhoods? I still find it a strange focus and was it thought out?

Social workers dispatched with cops on calls? I hate to say it but there is always the everlasting idea of budgets and having workers available at all times...? To have one available for every call or dispatch or to ride along they would have to hire how many to be on duty 24/7 at the station I guess? This was a botched raid supposedly, a social worker would not have been sent in ahead of time?? I guess I fail to see how either of these things apply or would have applied to this case or made a difference.

And the random drug testing of officers--not a bad idea but I would guess a random drug testing policy is already in place, most places including businesses have one, whether it is practiced or used often, hard to say but again did that apply in some way to this case? Did some drugged up cop mess this entire raid up?? I must have missed that part.

I guess what I am trying to say is they got some promised reform I guess but I don't see where some of this reform would have made a bit of difference as to what happened to Breonna and why these measures are even a part of it? The change to search warrants, for sure that would apply, but these other things, I guess I will have to read up on it all because I don't see how they would have changed a thing in this case or how they relate at all or even why they are asked for... I must be missing something...

 

[kdg411]

“To ensure we have the appropriate level of staffing to provide for public safety services and our policing functions, effective immediately the LMPD will operate under the emergency staffing and reporting guidelines as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures, Emergency Reponse Plan and collective bargaining agreements until further notice.”

LMPD declares state of emergency ahead of Breonna Taylor decision

On Monday, LMPD canceled all requested off days for officers effective immediately, according to multiple sources within the department.

www.wave3.com

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

“To ensure we have the appropriate level of staffing to provide for public safety services and our policing functions, effective immediately the LMPD will operate under the emergency staffing and reporting guidelines as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures, Emergency Reponse Plan and collective bargaining agreements until further notice.”

LMPD declares state of emergency ahead of Breonna Taylor decision

On Monday, LMPD canceled all requested off days for officers effective immediately, according to multiple sources within the department.

www.wave3.com

Well it certainly sounds like they know what the decision is...
Preparing for protests and riots. Not only the state of emergency, but also setting up barricades throughout the city and closing federal buildings. Extremely provocative.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Call me suspicious but it makes me wonder more than ever about the timing of the civil settlement/offer. Perhaps they thought $$ would soften things for protests to come? We heard some terms of that settlement but did we hear whether any wrongdoing was admitted to? I would about bet it wasn't...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Breaking news on Breonna Taylor coming!!!!