The US Department of Justice has charged four Kentucky police officers involved in the deadly raid that killed Breonna Taylor with civil rights violations.
Federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Sgt. Kyle Meany was announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Taylor, a 26-year-old black medical worker, was shot and killed on March 13, 2020 by officers in Louisville, Ky., who had kicked in her door while executing a search warrant. Taylor’s friend fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door and they returned fire, hitting Taylor multiple times.
Garland said federal officials “share the grief but cannot fully imagine” Taylor’s family felt.
“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” he said.
Federal charges allege that the affidavit used to secure the property in front of Taylor’s residence was forged. The officers who conducted the raid were not involved in that affidavit process, Garland said, and were unaware of the alleged forgery.
Garland claimed that Jaynes and Goodlett “met in a garage in May 2020, where they agreed to tell investigators a false story” about the deadly robbery.
Meany is also accused of lying to the FBI in an interview about the incident.
Police investigation underway
Hankison, who was discharged from the department in 2020, was one of the officers at Taylor’s door and one of three who fired that night.
He is accused by the Justice Department of using “constitutionally excessive force” in the raid, including firing his weapon through a window with closed blinds.
Current and former police officers in Louisville, Kentucky charged with federal crimes in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor
Charges include federal civil rights offenses, unlawful conspiracy, obstruction offenses and use of excessive forcehttps://t.co/95WARfwja9
A jury acquitted him earlier this year in Louisville of the state charge of willful threat.
Jaynes had applied for the search warrant to search Taylor’s house.
He was fired in January 2021 by former interim Louisville Police Chief Yvette Gentry for violating department standards in preparing a search warrant and for being “false” in the Taylor warrant.
Justice Department officials said Thursday that a broader investigation is underway into whether the Louisville Police Department engages in a so-called “pattern or practice” of law violations.
