March 13, 2020 – Louisville (KY)
26-year old. Shot 8 times: deceased
- Last update: 15:13 - First published
Breonna Taylor, an certified emergency room technician, was struck by eight police bullets as officers attempted to serve a no-knock warrant on her home during a narcotics investigation.
Records show that police believed that a suspect in the narcotics investigation, Jamarcus Glover, used Breonna’s home to receive mail, keep drugs or stash money earned from the sale of drugs. However, according to the lawsuit filed by Breonna’s family, police had identified Glover at a home more than 10 miles from Breonna’s apartment before they executed the warrant at her residence.
The police pursued ‘no-knock‘ search warrant in fatal shooting of Breonna in her home, meaning they don’t have to identify themselves before entering a residence or business, if there is a reasonable suspicion that knocking would be dangerous, futile or inhibit the “effective investigation of the crime,” according to Louisville Metro Police policies.
Breonna and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker woke up to the unannounced entry and believed their home was being broken into. Kenneth Walker fired his gun first, believing intruders were invading their home and striking an officer in the leg. Officers returned fire. No drugs were found in the home. During the gunfire, Breonna was struck at least eight times and died.
There is no body camera footage available. Police Chief Steve Conrad said the Criminal Interdiction Squad does not use that equipment.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., are among those calling for a federal investigation into Breonna‘s death.
Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, released the 15-hour recordings that include interviews with witnesses, audio of 911 calls and other evidence after a judge ordered him to do so, but the recordings did not include the instructions that prosecutors gave to the 12 jurors. Grand jurors are given broad powers, but prosecutors often closely guide the jurors and inform them about their role. The process almost always remains secret.
The grand jurors met in person over three days and reviewed police interviews of officers and witnesses at the scene, 911 calls and body camera videos from after Breonna‘s death. They also met directly with detectives who had investigated the killing. At times the jurors sound inquisitive or skeptical on the recordings, peppering the detectives with questions and pointing out inconsistencies in some of the officers’ accounts.
A federal judge in Kentucky Monday 21, July 2025 sentenced former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison to 33 months in prison for using excessive force during the deadly police raid that killed Breonna in her own home. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings rejected prosecutors’ recommendation to have Hankison sentenced to just one day in prison, calling the effort “not appropriate.”
Hankison fired 10 bullets during the no-knock raid in March 2020 — some of which penetrated the walls of a neighbor’s home where a family was sleeping. Breonna was a Black woman, whose killing sparked nationwide racial justice protests under the banner “Black Lives Matter.” Civil rights attorney Ben Crump spoke after Monday’s sentencing.
“Breonna Taylor’s killing, five years later, is telling us a lot at which direction we’re going to go. Are we going to continue to be a democracy that upholds the objective of liberty and justice for all, or are we going to descend into being a police state where the police can do anything?”
Louisville Metro Police arrested four protesters who blocked traffic outside the federal court where Hankison was sentenced Monday. Among those arrested was Bianca Austin, Breonna’s aunt.
Justice & Light for Breonna and her loved ones!
Physical violence
Arrest | |
Detention / Custody | |
Hustle / Projection | |
Prone position / lying flat on the stomach / ventral decubitus | |
“Folding” (holding a person in a seated position with their head resting on their knees) | |
Painful armlock | |
Kicks, punches, slaps | |
Feet / knees on the nape of the neck, chest or face | |
Blows to the victim while under control and/or on the ground | |
Blows to the ears | |
Strangulation / chokehold | |
Fingers forced backwards | |
Spraying with water | |
Dog bites | |
Hair pulling | |
Painful tightening of colson ties or handcuffs | |
Painfully pulling by colson ties or handcuffs | |
Sexual abuse | |
Striking with a police vehicle | |
Use of gloves | |
X | Use of firearm |
Use of “Bean bags” (a coton sack containing tiny lead bullets) | |
Use of FlashBall weapon | |
Use of sound grenade | |
Use of dispersal grenade | |
Use of teargas grenade | |
Use of rubber bullets weapon (LBD40 type) | |
Use of batons | |
Use of Pepper Spray | |
Use of Taser gun | |
Use of tranquillisers | |
Disappearance |
Psychological violence
Charge of disturbing public order | |
Charge of rebellion | |
Accusation of beatings to officer | |
Charge of threatening officer | |
Charge of insulting an officer | |
Charge of disrespect | |
Charge of resisting arrest | |
Aggressive behaviour, disrespect, insults | |
Intimidation, blackmail, threats | |
Vexing or intimidating identity check | |
Intimidation or arrest of witnesses | |
Prevented from taking photographs or from filming the scene | |
Calls to end torment remained unheeded | |
Prolonged uncomfortable position | |
Failure to assist a person in danger | |
Photographs, fingerprints, DNA | |
Threat with a weapon | |
Shooting in the back | |
X | Charging without warning |
Kettling (corraling protestors to isolate them from the rest of the demonstration) | |
Car chase | |
Sexist remarks | |
Homophobic remarks | |
Racist comments | |
X | Intervention in a private place |
Mental health issues | |
Harassment | |
Body search | |
Home search | |
Violence by fellow police officers | |
Passivity of police colleagues | |
Lack or refusal of the police officer to identify him or herself | |
Refusal to notify someone or to telephone | |
Refusal to administer a breathalyzer | |
Refusal to fasten the seatbelt during transport | |
Refusal to file a complaint | |
Refusal to allow medical care or medication | |
Lies, cover-ups, disappearance of evidence | |
Undress before witnesses of the opposite sex | |
Bend down naked in front of witnesses | |
Lack of surveillance or monitoring during detention | |
Lack of signature in the Personal Effects Register during detention | |
Deprivation during detention (water, food) | |
Inappropriate sanitary conditions during detention (temperature, hygiene, light) | |
Confiscation, deterioration, destruction of personal effects | |
Pressure to sign documents | |
Absence of a report | |
Complacency of doctors |
- 21.07.2025 – Brett Hankison sentenced to 33 months in prison for using excessive force
- 12.30.2020 – Louisville Police Department terminates Detective Myles Cosgrove and and Detective Joshua Jaynes
- 10.02.2020 – Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general releases 15 hours of recording
- 09.24.2020 – Grand Jury declines to charge any of the three white police officers, only indictments were three counts of “wanton endangerment” against former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison for shooting into the apartment of a neighbor
- 09.22.2020 : Six Louisville Metro Police officers under an internal investigation : department’s Professional Standards Unit has begun its probe into Det. Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who fired their weapons into Breonna’s apartment on March 13; Det. Joshua Jaynes, who sought the search warrant for her apartment; and Det. Tony James, Det. Michael Campbell and Det. Michael Nobles
- 09.15.2020 – City of Louisville, Kentucky, announces it will pay the family of Breonna $12 million and institute a slew of reforms to the police department responsible for her death
- 06.2020 – Det. Brett Hankison fired
- 05.13.2020 – Jefferson County commonwealth’s attorney Tom Wine recuses himself from reviewing Louisville police officers’ conduct, citing conflict of interest – he is prosecuting Walker. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron confirms his office had been asked to serve as a special prosecutor
- 04.27.2020 – Attorney for Breonna’s estate files a wrongful death suit against the city
- 03.14.2020 – Police opens internal investigation. 3 Officers involved placed on administrative leave. Kenneth Walker charged with attempted murder of a police officer
- 03.13.2020 – Killing of Breonna
- Lawyer : Ben Crump
- Collective :
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