Shooting of Breonna Taylor

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Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed when the police raided her apartment in Louisville, Ky., in March 2020. Credit via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her apartment at Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13, 2020, when white plainclothes officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing operations.[1]

A new New York Times examination of video footage from the scene, witness accounts, statements by the police officers and forensics reports showed that the raid was compromised by poor planning and reckless execution.

Anomallities occurred in this search warrant such as none of the police officers who raided Breonna Taylor’s home used body cameras, none of the neighborhood hear anything about the cops introducing themselves before force entering to the apartment contrary with police officer statement who said they already introduced before, SWAT was not included in the raid, also a key witness who changed his testimony.

Regular vigils have been held in Kentucky for Ms. Taylor

Incident

Shortly after midnight on March 13, 2020, Louisville police officers executing a search warrant to enter the apartment of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician. The police had been investigating two men who they believed were selling drugs out of a house more than 10 miles from Ms. Taylor’s apartment. But a judge had also signed a warrant allowing the police to search Ms. Taylor’s residence because the police said they believed that one of the men had used her apartment to receive packages.[2]

Ms. Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had been in bedroom watching tv, but got up as they heard a loud banging at the door. Mr. Walker said he and Ms. Taylor both called out, asking who was at the door but none answered. Mr. Walker later told the police he feared it was Ms. Taylor’s ex-boyfriend trying to break in. No response from inside the apartment, the police broke the door, Mr. Walker fired his gun once, aiming low scared of killing people, end up striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in a thigh. Mattingly responded by firing 5 shots, striking Ms. Taylor five times. Almost at the same time Cosgrove moves in and fires blindly into the dark room until he's runs out of ammunition, in total 16 rounds. Mr. Hankison another police officer at the outside of the building aware of this shooting incident, decided to shot blindly into the apartment towards the window, 10 rounds. Police officers fired 32 bullets in total to Ms. Taylor apartment according to a ballistics report from the FBI.[3]

This brutally shoot caused Ms. Taylor seriously wounded, shot 6 times in both sides of her body. Mr. Walker then called 911 said, “I don’t know what’s happening,” Mr. Walker said on a recorded call to 911. “Someone kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend.” Ms. Taylor received no medical attention for more than 20 minutes after she was struck. An ambulance once on standby outside the apartment had been told to leave about an hour before the raid, counter to standard practice.

The Louisville police say that they fired inside Ms. Taylor’s home only after they were first fired upon by Mr. Walker, Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend. They said that Mr. Walker wounded one of the officers, who was hit in the leg but was expected to make a full recovery. Mr. Walker was subsequently charged with attempted murder of a police officer, though the charge was dismissed in May.[4]

None of the police officers who raided Breonna Taylor’s home used body cameras, impeding the public from a full understanding of what happened. The New York Times’s visual investigation team built a 3-D model of the scene and pieced together critical sequences of events to show how poor planning and reckless execution work led to a fatal outcome.[5]

Later after shooting incident on SWAT team arrived at the scene and examine the room, looking for damage from the shooting and no drugs were found in the apartment.

US athletes have been wearing Breonna Taylor's name on their uniforms

Investigation

The police’s incident report contained multiple errors. It listed Ms. Taylor’s injuries as “none,” even though she had been shot several times, and indicated that officers had not forced their way into the apartment — though they used a battering ram to break the door open.

For months, Ms. Taylor’s family has pleaded for justice, pressing criminal charges against the other officers. Ms. Taylor’s case began to draw national attention in May 2020, and she has since been the center of campaigns from several celebrities and athletes, some of whom have dedicated their seasons to keeping a spotlight on her case. In September, Louisville officials agreed to pay $12 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Ms. Taylor’s mother and to institute reforms aimed at preventing future deaths by officers.

A grand jury in September indicted a former Louisville detective involved in the raid, Brett Hankison, for wanton endangerment of neighbors whose apartment was hit when he fired without a clear line of sight into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment. He pleaded not guilty but Louisville Metro Police Department released a letter of termination sent to Mr. Hankison.

Detective Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who shot Ms. Taylor, and Detective Joshua Jaynes, who prepared the search warrant for the raid, received letters of termination in late December 2020, according to lawyers representing the officers. Detectives Cosgrove and Jaynes were officially fired on January 5, according to The Louisville Courier-Journal. Sergeant Mattingly, was been placed on administrative reassignment.[2]

No charges were announced against the other two officers who fired shots, and no one was charged for causing Ms. Taylor’s death.

Protesters march through downtown Nashville as they demonstrate against the Louisville grand jury decision about the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. Photo by: Mark Zaleski, For the Tennessean via USA TODAY Network

Public Reaction

Ms Taylor's name circulated widely during the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, which erupted in May after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. At the Democratic National Convention in August, both former First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice-Presidential candidate Kamala Harris mentioned her. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has said the officers should be criminally charged.[3]

Protesters also march through downtown Nashville as they demonstrate against the Louisville grand jury decision about the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski, For the Tennessean via USA TODAY Network

External Link

Visual Investigation video at nytimes.com
Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker describes the night she was killed by police at BBC

References

  1. Shooting of Breonna Taylor. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Oppel Jr., Richard A. What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death. The New York Post. 6 January 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Breonna Taylor: What happened on the night of her death?. BBC. 8 October 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas. Months After Louisville Police Kill Woman in Her Home, Governor Calls for Review. The New York Post. 14 May 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. Browne, Malachy. How the Police Killed Breonna Taylor. The New York Post. 28 December 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.