Ex-officer Brett Hankison violated Breonna Taylor's civil rights in deadly raid, jury finds
Posted on 11/02/2024
A jury on Friday found a former Louisville, Kentucky, police officer guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in a botched raid that led to her death, NBC affiliate WAVE of Louisville reported.
The jury also acquitted Brett Hankison of a second count that accused him of violating the civil rights of Taylor’s neighbor.
Taylor was fatally shot by police officers in the March 13, 2020, raid, but not by Hankison and he was not charged with her death.
Hankison, 48, fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment but none of them struck anyone. Some of his shots also flew into a neighboring apartment.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, that she was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to think as the verdict was read.
“I’m grateful. I’m grateful to God,” Palmer told reporters Friday night. She thanked jurors, who she said took their time to understand the case.
Hankison was being retried by the Justice Department after a first jury deadlocked on both counts, ending in a mistrial, in November 2023.
In 2020, police were at Taylor’s apartment seeking evidence in a narcotics investigation that targeted her ex-boyfriend, who lived at a different address at the time.
During the raid, officers opened fire, killing Taylor, 26, who was Black, after her boyfriend fired a single shot toward the front door, believing an intruder had broken in.
Hankison testified that he had to act quickly because he believed his fellow officers were being executed. Prosecutors accused him of firing blindly.
He has faced three trials in two years. Before his federal trials, he was accused of endangering Taylor’s neighbors but was found not guilty of wanton endangerment charges in 2022.
His latest trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky lasted about two weeks.
In the current trial, the jury found Hankison not guilty of violating the neighbor’s rights and then returned to deliberate on the count regarding Taylor herself.
The jury later came back with a guilty verdict on the Taylor count, WAVE reported around 9:30 p.m.
The charge that Hankison was convicted on carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Some members of the jury were in tears as the verdict was read, the Associated Press reported.
Taylor's killing drew outrage from across the country. President Joe Biden called her death a tragedy and said the country must pass meaningful police reforms.
The jury also acquitted Brett Hankison of a second count that accused him of violating the civil rights of Taylor’s neighbor.
Taylor was fatally shot by police officers in the March 13, 2020, raid, but not by Hankison and he was not charged with her death.
Hankison, 48, fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment but none of them struck anyone. Some of his shots also flew into a neighboring apartment.
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, that she was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to think as the verdict was read.
“I’m grateful. I’m grateful to God,” Palmer told reporters Friday night. She thanked jurors, who she said took their time to understand the case.
Hankison was being retried by the Justice Department after a first jury deadlocked on both counts, ending in a mistrial, in November 2023.
In 2020, police were at Taylor’s apartment seeking evidence in a narcotics investigation that targeted her ex-boyfriend, who lived at a different address at the time.
During the raid, officers opened fire, killing Taylor, 26, who was Black, after her boyfriend fired a single shot toward the front door, believing an intruder had broken in.
Hankison testified that he had to act quickly because he believed his fellow officers were being executed. Prosecutors accused him of firing blindly.
He has faced three trials in two years. Before his federal trials, he was accused of endangering Taylor’s neighbors but was found not guilty of wanton endangerment charges in 2022.
His latest trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky lasted about two weeks.
In the current trial, the jury found Hankison not guilty of violating the neighbor’s rights and then returned to deliberate on the count regarding Taylor herself.
The jury later came back with a guilty verdict on the Taylor count, WAVE reported around 9:30 p.m.
The charge that Hankison was convicted on carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Some members of the jury were in tears as the verdict was read, the Associated Press reported.
Taylor's killing drew outrage from across the country. President Joe Biden called her death a tragedy and said the country must pass meaningful police reforms.
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