Breonna Taylor’s family to get $12million in settlement after she was fatally shot eight times by cops at home
THE city of Louisville has agreed to pay a $12million settlement to the family of Breonna Taylor and to reform police practices. Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot by police in March after they entered her home on a no-knock warrant. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is expected to announce the settlement in a Tuesday […]
THE city of Louisville has agreed to pay a $12million settlement to the family of Breonna Taylor and to reform police practices.
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot by police in March after they entered her home on a no-knock warrant.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was fatally shot by police in her home[/caption]
Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, addresses the media in Louisville in August[/caption]
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is expected to announce the settlement in a Tuesday press conference with Taylor’s family attorneys, CNN reported.
Taylor’s death, along with that of George Floyd and other black Americans, sparked months of Black Lives Matter protests calling for racial equality and nationwide police reform.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is investigating the police actions in Taylor’s March 13 death, though none of the officers involved have been arrested or charged yet.
The now-settled lawsuit was filed in April by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, and alleged that police used flawed information to obtain a no-knock warrant to enter the young woman’s apartment.
On the night in question, police entered the home as part of a drug investigation and roused Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, from bed. Walker, taking the police for intruders, fired once at officers with a legally-obtained firearm, striking one of the officers in the leg.
Police returned fire and Taylor was struck several times.
The warrant was issued as part of a drug investigation that involved a former boyfriend of Taylor’s. That man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested at a different location on the same night, according to the Associated Press.
The settlement reached with Taylor’s family also includes reforms on how police handle warrants.
The city has already passed a law named after Taylor that bans the use of no-knock warrants.
One of the three officers who entered Taylor’s home, Brett Hankinson, was fired over the summer for “wantonly and blindly” firing 10 rounds into her apartment, according to then-interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder.
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However, none have been charged with a crime.
The Taylor settlement is the biggest sum ever paid by Louisville for a police misconduct case, according to reports from the AP.
Attorney Ben Crump also said he believes the settlement is the largest ever reached for a black woman killed by a police officer in the US.