City of Louisville agrees to ‘substantial’ settlement in Breonna Taylor shooting
Louisville agrees to pay family of Breonna Taylor ‘several million’ in largest ever payout by city for police misconduct
- The settlement between Breonna Taylor’s family and the city of Louisville is expected to be worth millions of dollars
- It will also include a series of police reforms, including that police commanders must approve all search warrants in advance
- Taylor was killed back in March when Louisville police burst into her apartment using a so-called ‘no-knock’ arrest warrant
- The settlement is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that Taylor’s family filed against the city and its police department back in April
- The financial payment is expected to be the largest amount the city has ever paid in relation to a police misconduct lawsuit
The city of Louisville has agreed to pay Breonna Taylor’s family several millions of dollars as part of a settlement six months after police shot the black EMT dead in her apartment.
Details of the settlement, which will be announced on Tuesday afternoon, is believed to be worth millions of dollars, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
The settlement is in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that Taylor’s family filed against the city and its police department back in April.
The financial payment is expected to be the largest amount the city has ever paid in relation to a police misconduct lawsuit.
A source has said it could be as high as $12 million.
In addition to the financial deal Taylor’s family will receive as a result of her death, the settlement will also include a series of police reforms, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
The city of Louisville has reached a ‘substantial’ financial settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor six months after the black EMT was shot dead by police in her apartment
Among the reforms is a requirement that police commanders must approve all search warrants before they are sent to a judge.
Sources say the deal also includes that officers involved in any shooting will have to under drug and alcohol testing.
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.
A spokeswoman for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the settlement.
The settlement could be announced as early as 2pm.
It comes as 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.
Her slaying set off weeks of protests, policy changes and a call for the 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.
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
Taylor was fatally shot eight times by police as they served a no-knock warrant at her apartment on March 13.
Police descended on her apartmen 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.
Walker has filed a separate lawsuit against the city that has not yet been settled.
It comes just weeks after crime scene photos emerged publicly that showed a number of shell casings in and near the EMT’s apartment.
Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker had been sleeping in bed when the officers served the warrant at around 1am
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
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.
