No officers were charged with killing Breonna Taylor.
The results of a grand jury probe into the death of Breonna Taylor have been announced.
Former Louisville Metro Police Department officer Brett Hankison has been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree — for firing into neighboring apartments the night Taylor was killed.
No charges were announced for Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly or Detective Myles Cosgrove, the other two officers involved — and the grand jury didn’t move forward with any charges against all three of them for their role in Taylor’s death.
Hankison’s bail has been set at $15,000.
He had already been fired for his role in the shooting, terminated for actions which “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he “wantonly and blindly fired ten rounds” from outside Taylor’s apartment. During a press conference, attorney general Daniel Cameron said none of Hankison’s bullets struck the victim.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT, was fatally shot by police in her own home in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13 — while officers were executing a warrant as part of a drug investigation. While it was initially reported to be a “no knock” warrant, on Wednesday, Cameron said that wasn’t the case.
Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover was the main subject of the investigation. The warrant authorized a search on Taylor’s apartment, where no drugs were found. Her family has maintained she played no role in the alleged drug trade.
Police say they knocked on the door, announced themselves and were met with gunfire upon entering the apartment, citing Breonna’s boyfriend as the instigator. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker III, said police broke into the apartment unannounced, with Walker III firing at them in self-defense. None of the police were wearing body cams.
Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were previously placed on administrative reassignment. Cameron said they were justified in their use of force.
Louisville mayor Greg Fischer preemptively declared a state of emergency “due to the potential for civil unrest” ahead of the announcement.
Breonna’s killing became a focal point of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After the grand jury announcement was made, celebrities, politicians and other media figures all shared their outrage on social media:
