What We Know About the Killing of Breonna Taylor

EMT and aspiring nurse Breonna Taylor, 26, was shot to death by police in her own home on March 13. In what has been described as a “botched raid,” officers barged into Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, as she lay sleeping, and fired multiple rounds. Months after she was senselessly killed, Taylor’s name has been chanted all over the country at mass protests against racist police brutality, which erupted after the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, also at the hands of police. On September 23 — over six months after Taylor was killed — just one of the officers involved in the shooting was indicted by a grand jury. Officer Brett Hankison faces three charges of wanton endangerment, a class D felony that carries a penalty of one to five years in prison.

Taylor was shot eight times by law enforcement. According to a lawsuit filed by her family, her killing was the result of a botched drug-warrant execution. No drugs were found; the warrant in question targeted another person, who lived miles away and had already been detained by the time police entered Taylor’s home.

Taylor’s case languished for weeks before attracting national attention. Her family retained lawyer Benjamin Crump, who is also representing some family members of both Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Crump filed the lawsuit on April 27, accusing police of wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. The Taylor family sought compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal fees, through a jury trial, and the city of Louisville settled the suit in September for $12 million.

In the settlement, the city does not admit any wrongdoing, according to Fischer. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, said during the press conference, “As significant as today is, it’s only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna. We must not lose focus on what the real job is … It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and much more.”

Brett Hankison, a detective at the time, fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight.

He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

The two other officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, were not indicted; the grand jury found they were justified in their use of force because of “self-defense.”

Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency this week in anticipation of possible “civil unrest” and, on Wednesday, ordered a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for the next three nights. The city’s police chief, Robert J. Schroeder, also placed barricades and city vehicles downtown to restrict movement in the area and said he would not allow officers to request time off.

The Louisville Metro Police Department was also grappling with an email sent to officers on Tuesday morning by a sergeant who fired his gun — and was shot — during the raid of Ms. Taylor’s apartment.

During the raid, Sergeant Mattingly was shot once in the leg by Ms. Taylor’s boyfriend as the sergeant entered the apartment. He later said in a statement to investigators that he had fired off at least six rounds in response. In the email to his colleagues, Sergeant Mattingly railed against the Police Department’s command staff, the mayor and the F.B.I. and said “good guys are demonized, and criminals are canonized.”