Four police officers have been apprehended and charged in the 2020 death of Breonna Taylor.
Taylor was fatally shot inside of her residence in Louisville, Kentucky, by plainclothes officers who were conducting a “no-knock” search warrant.
The 26-year-old hospital employee was shot when officers forced entry into her apartment after midnight. Taylor had been lying in her bed with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.
Her death led to racial injustice protests in many U.S. cities.
Previously, only one officer, ex-Louisville detective Brett Hankison, that was a participant in the raid, had been charged in the case.
However, earlier this year, Hankison, who shot his gun 10 times, was acquitted. He is now one of the four officers that has just been charged through the U.S. Department of Justice.
The other officers are ex-officer Joshua Jaynes, and Officers Hanna Goodlett and Kyle Meany.
All of the officers are charged with civil rights violations, unlawful conspiracy, unconstitutional use of force and obstruction. The latter three officers have also been charged with falsification of a search warrant. Only Mr. Hankison faces an additional charge of excessive force for shooting during the raid.
Search warrant documents obtained by officers had Ms. Taylor’s name and address on it. Authorities had believed that a former boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, was a part of a drug ring and had used her residence to stash his drugs.
However, no drugs were located in the apartment, and the search had been canceled subsequent to the shooting.
During the raid, Kenneth Walker shot and injured an officer in the leg, thinking he was an intruder. He faced attempted murder charges that were later dropped.
Relatives of Taylor’s filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Police Department and reached a $12 million settlement in 2020.
