The day that many people have been waiting on has finally arrived, and the decision was not what people were hoping for. Since Breonna Taylor was killed back in March, many people have been marching, hoping, and praying that the officers responsible for her death would be arrested and charged.
However, Brett Hankison, the former LMPD officer, was indicted on 3 counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. Meaning that he was NOT charged for Breonna’s death, and he was also granted a $15,000 cash bond. Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, the other officers involved in the shooting, have not been charged at the moment.
According to Wave 3 News, Hankison was charged for shooting 10 rounds from outside of Breonna’s apartment. Some of the shots ended up in adjacent units, which was why he was indicted. In the end, he was not charged for Breonna’s death. This announcement comes almost 7 months after the 26-year-old was shot and killed inside her apartment.
As previously mentioned, Hankison was fired from the department by the department’s interim chief, Robert Schroeder, for “blindly” firing 10 rounds.
The grand jury’s decision also comes after the city of Louisville settled with Breonna’s family for $12 million in a wrongful death lawsuit, which was filed by Breonna’s mother Tamika Palmer, back in April. In the lawsuit, Breonna’s family was looking for criminal charges to be filed against the three officers.
After the grand jury’s announcement, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron spoke at a press conference where talked about the investigation in more detail.
Cameron started off the press conference by saying, “There’s no doubt this is a gut-wrenching, emotional case. My job as the special prosecutor, in this case, was to put the emotions aside and investigate the facts. This included examining the actions of Sgt. Jon Mattingly, Det. Brett Hankison and Det. Myles Cosgrove.”
He went on to state that the investigation was pieced together through ballistics evidence, 911 calls, police radio traffic, and interviews. In the end, he claims that the officers knocked and identified themselves before entering the apartment and because Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired the first shot, which reportedly struck Jon Mattingly in the leg. In retaliation, Mattingly fired six shots back, and Myles Cosgrove fired 16 shots. Breonna was struck six times, and one of the shots were fatal. In the end, It was determined that a bullet from Cosgrove’s gun was the fatal shot.
Ahead of the grand jury’s announcement Mayor Greg Fischer announced there would be a countywide curfew implemented from 9:00pm to 6:30am.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
