City of Louisville agrees to $12 million settlement in Breonna Taylor shooting
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The city of Louisville has agreed to pay Breonna Taylor’s family $12 million as part of a historic settlement that includes police reforms six months after officers shot dead the black EMT in her apartment.
The financial payment is the largest amount the city has ever paid in relation to a police misconduct lawsuit.
The settlement is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer filed against the city and its police department back in April.
In addition to the $12 million Taylor’s family will receive, the settlement will also include a series of police reforms for Louisville.
Among the reforms is a requirement that police commanders must approve all search warrants before they are sent to a judge.
The city of Louisville has agreed to pay Breonna Taylor’s family $12 million as part of a settlement six months after police shot the black EMT dead in her apartment
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was gunned down back in March when Louisville police burst into her apartment using a no-knock arrest warrant that did not require them to announce themselves.
Her slaying set off weeks of protests, policy changes and a call for the three Louisville Metro Police Department officers who shot Taylor to be criminally charged.
One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was fired for ‘blindly’ firing 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment from outside. The other two, John Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, remain on the force on administrative assignment.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is expected to announce this week whether criminal charges will be filed against the three Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in Taylor’s shooting death.
Mayor Greg Fischer said on Tuesday that the city was not waiting for Cameron’s decision regarding any criminal charges.
‘I’m deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death,’ Fischer said. ‘My administration is not waiting to move ahead with needed reforms to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.’
The lawsuit filed by Taylor’s mother alleged that police used flawed information when they obtained the no-knock warrant to enter her apartment.
Taylor was gunned down back in March when Louisville police burst into her apartment using a no-knock arrest warrant that did not require them to announce themselves. Pictured above is an evidence photo showing the bullet casings from outside her apartment
In the crime scene photos, a body camera can be seen on officer Anthony James’ right shoulder. Another officer, Myles Cosgrove, can be seen in the photos wearing a body camera holder
Police descended on her apartment after securing a court-approved warrant as part of a drug investigation involving her ex-boyfriend that allowed officers to enter her home without any warning.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had been sleeping in bed when the officers served the warrant at around 1am.
Walker fired his gun when officers stormed into the apartment and has since said he thought he was defending against a home invasion.
At the time, Walker told police that he could hear knocking on the night of the shooting but did not hear police announce themselves.
Walker said he was ‘scared to death’ so he grabbed his gun and when the door was knocked down, he fired a shot that ended up striking an officer in the leg.
Investigators said police were returning fire when they shot Taylor eight times.
No drugs were found at her home.
Walker has filed a separate lawsuit against the city that has not yet been settled.
The settlement is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer (pictured above during the March on Washington) filed against the city and its police department back in April
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker had been sleeping in bed when the officers served the warrant at around 1am
It comes just weeks after crime scene photos emerged publicly that showed a number of shell casings in and near the EMT’s apartment. The photos were taken by Louisville investigators in the hours after Taylor was gunned down.
The images raised questions about previous statements made by law enforcement who have said there is no body cam footage of the raid because narcotics officers don’t wear cameras.
Several photos show that at least one officer who raided the apartment was wearing a body camera at the time.
In the crime scene photos, a body camera can be seen on officer Anthony James’ right shoulder. Another officer, Myles Cosgrove, can be seen in the photos wearing a body camera holder.
Immediately after the fatal shooting, police chief Steve Conrad and Mayor Greg Fischer, said no footage existed of the raid because narcotics officers were not required to wear body cameras.
‘This incident was related to the execution of a search warrant by members of our Criminal Interdiction Division and some of the officers assigned to this division do not wear body-worn video systems,’ Conrad, who has since been fired, said.
The Mayor has repeatedly said that the officers involved in the raid were not wearing cameras.
At least 10 bullets went into Taylor’s apartment through a sliding glass door located in the living room and also through a bedroom window
Bullet holes and blood smeared on the walls could be seen in one evidence photo taken inside the apartment in the hours after Taylor was gunned down
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