Breonna Taylor, Louisville EMT, killed in botched police raid


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

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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 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
 

Prosecutors will not re-indict Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, in police shooting​

Louisville prosecutors have decided not to file new criminal charges against Kenneth Walker for shooting an officer during last March’s fatal police shooting of his girlfriend, Breonna Taylor.

Walker and his attorney, Rob Eggert, have repeatedly asked a judge to grant him immunity from being re-charged with attempted murder of a police officer for shooting at what he thought were robbers breaking into Taylor’s apartment during the early morning raid on March 13.

While Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine announced May 22 his office would not proceed with the prosecution of Walker, the case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Walker could be charged again if additional facts came out, Wine said at the time.

However, in a motion Thursday, prosecutors said that while the U.S. Department of Justice is still looking into the case, “the investigations into this matter have concluded and no new information relevant to the charges” against Walker have been brought to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.
 
I have 5 NRA awards, and have matched a seasoned cop target shooting on a torso target (hitting the heart bullseye every time)- Walker, IMO, wasn't aiming to kill, or his shot would've hit Mattingly in the torso.
Just wanted to clarify something- my NRA awards came from a riflery course at a summer camp in the Rocky Mountains when I was 15. And the cop I shot with provided the guns. Most of you probably know I'm far from a "gun nut"- I only own 1 gun, and it was a pistol my dad got off of a Nazi in WW2. It doesn't work. I have no desire to own guns, and I've never shot at a living thing; if folks need to hunt to eat, I have no problem with it, but I could never watch. My cousin (who was like a sister to me, and was a fellow animal lover) went deer hunting w/ a boyfriend against her better judgement. He shot a deer, and Kim immediately began projectile vomiting; I'm sure I'd have a similar reaction. I've been involved in "code blues" on folks with gunshot wounds; I handled myself fine, but it was rough seeing the damage guns can and do inflict.
Sorry for being long winded- it was important to me to share my beliefs about guns, just for the record!
 

Judge rules trial of former cop charged in Breonna Taylor raid will remain in Louisville - for now​

Former Det. Brett Hankison’s wanton endangerment trial for his role in the raid of Breonna Taylor's home will remain in Jefferson County, for now, a judge ruled Thursday.

While acknowledging that there had “obviously been an overwhelming amount of publicity in the case,” Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith said she would do her best to find unbiased jurors in Louisville.

“At this point in time, I do think the prudent thing to do is to try to get a jury seated here in Jefferson County,” the judge told attorneys.

However, if it is not possible to find unbiased jurors, she said she would revisit Hankison’s request to move the August trial to another county.
 

Appeal date set for former detective who got search warrant for Breonna Taylor's apartment​

The Police Merit Board will hear the appeal of the officer fired for securing the search warrant for Breonna Taylor's apartment with inaccurate information in June.

Former Interim Chief Yvette Gentry fired Louisville Metro Police detective Joshua Jaynes in January for violations of department policy for truthfulness and search warrant preparation.

Two other detectives fired in relation to Taylor's death — Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison — have not received dates for their respective appeals hearings.

Thomas Clay, Jaynes' attorney, anticipated the appeal would take at least three days or as long as a week before the board.

The board set aside June 3-4 and 29-30 for Jaynes' hearing. Clay objected to the hearing being spread over a month's time.


Hankison's hearing will not be set until his criminal case for three counts of wanton endangerment for Taylor's neighbors is resolved. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set for Aug. 31 in Jefferson County.

Cosgrove, who the FBI concluded fired the fatal shot, was fired for violating the department's use-of-force policy. Gentry wrote that he "did not identify a specific target" when he fired 16 rounds into Taylor's apartment.

Hankison was fired for shooting 10 rounds "blindly" into Taylor's apartment and an adjacent unit.
 

Trial moved to 2022 for only officer charged in Breonna Taylor raid​

Former Louisville Metro Det. Brett Hankison was set to go on trial for his wanton endangerment charges on Aug. 31.

Now his trial won't be until next year. Judge Ann Bailey Smith set the new date for Feb. 1, 2022.

Smith made the decision thinking she will need a large jury pool and feels the courtroom could get crowded. She said that could be an issue with COVID-19 restrictions that could still be in place in August.

Smith said the trial is expected to take five to seven days, not including jury selection, which she thinks will take "some time"

As of now, the February trial remains in Jefferson County, despite attempts by Hankison's side to get it moved.
 

Officers who killed Breonna Taylor shouldn't have fired 'a single shot,' LMPD investigator says​

The Louisville Metro Police officers who served a search warrant at Breonna Taylor's apartment on March 13, 2020, should not have returned gunfire because "circumstances made it unsafe to take a single shot," an internal investigator determined in a review of the fatal shooting.

The investigator, Sgt. Andrew Meyer, suggested the officers who fired their weapons that night violated LMPD's use-of-force policy, according to a report from the department's Professional Standards Unit that WDRB News obtained Tuesday.

Police had an "obligation by policy to only use deadly force against a person presenting an immediate threat," Meyer wrote. That person, he concluded, was Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who fired a single shot that hit Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the leg after officers used a battering ram to break down the door of Taylor's apartment just before 1 a.m. Walker has said he did not hear police announce themselves and thought they were intruders.

Given the layout of Taylor's apartment hallway, poor lighting and officers' inability to identify or isolate a target, Meyer said they "could not safely take the shots."

The officers combined to return 32 shots. Taylor, 26, was hit six times and died in her hallway.

"This is how the wrong person was shot and killed," Meyer wrote in the report.
 
Should be everywhere.

Cops fired over Breonna Taylor raid may be banned from working in law enforcement in Kentucky​

The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council (KLEC) will soon begin an investigation into former officers Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes, a spokesperson for the council told WDRB News. The council will decide whether to pull those officers' certifications after findings from the investigation are presented in August, the spokesperson said.
 
Shouldn't be able to profit off of this. I hope no other publishers pick it up, but I'm sure someone will.

Officer Involved In Breonna Taylor Shooting Splits from Publisher After Company Refused to Distribute Book​

Simon & Schuster dropped the distribution of Jonathan Mattingly’s book in April after public backlash to the news. A petition demanding that they cancel the book deal received over 46,000 signatures.
 

Firing of Louisville detective who fatally shot Breonna Taylor is upheld after a board review​

A review board upheld the termination of the former police detective who fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor last year in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Louisville Metro Police Merit Board backed the decision to fire Myles Cosgrove by a 5-2 vote on Wednesday, a decision that arrived after several days of hearings.
 

Jury selection set to begin for officer facing charges from night of Breonna Taylor’s death​

The former Louisville Metro Police Department officer facing charges stemming from the night of Breonna Taylor’s death was set to appear before a judge Tuesday. Instead, Brett Hankison participated by telephone.

Hankison is facing wanton endangerment charges for shooting into an apartment next to Breonna Taylor’s on the night Taylor was shot and killed by police.

On Tuesday, Judge Anne Bailey Smith asked both parties’ lawyers about the biggest task on hand currently: finding an impartial jury. That means finding jurors unbiased enough that both sides agree.

Both sides seemingly agree on one thing: they don’t want media involved in the selection process.

The court has summoned 250 people for the jury pool. That’ll be dwindled down to 50 and then ultimately to a 12-person jury, plus alternates. If media isn’t going to be allowed, there will have to be some procedural action taken first.

Jury selection is set to start January 28. Trial is scheduled for February.
 

Jury questioning delayed in case related to Breonna Taylor​

Jury questioning has been delayed for the trial of a former Kentucky police officer involved in a botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith said Tuesday that Brett Hankison has had to have unexpected minor surgery. She said Hankison has the right to observe the jury selection process and that questioning will now begin on Thursday.
 

Mother of Breonna Taylor removed from trial after wearing jacket displaying her daughter​

Breonna Taylor's mother was forced to leave the Brett Hankison trial on Thursday.

Tamika Palmer wore a red jacket with her daughter's face prominently displayed, along with the letter "B" and the day of her death.

Court officials said it's standard dress code for spectators not to wear anything that could prejudice a jury.

According to a Facebook post, Palmer offered to take off the coat but the courtroom deputy still made her leave.


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Mother of Breonna Taylor removed from trial after wearing jacket displaying her daughter​

Breonna Taylor's mother was forced to leave the Brett Hankison trial on Thursday.

Tamika Palmer wore a red jacket with her daughter's face prominently displayed, along with the letter "B" and the day of her death.

Court officials said it's standard dress code for spectators not to wear anything that could prejudice a jury.

According to a Facebook post, Palmer offered to take off the coat but the courtroom deputy still made her leave.


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We couldn't wear buttons with the VICTIM on them either. In fact, they couldn't or wouldn't even show a picture of her in life at the trial. I don't know that it is a law but it was a rule on the case of wearing one and a choice I think by the prosecutor as to showing a picture and I suppose it is all to avoid appeal or claims of prejudice.

I don't agree with it at ALL, you have to sit and listen to testimony by "friends or loved ones" about the criminal defendant and how GOOD he is, helpful, etc. but the victim's family can't do the same.

If it worked both ways it would be one thing but the rights seem to be all on the side of the accused. It is really difficult to watch, see and experience. Jmo.
 

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