Federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Sgt. Kyle Meany was announced by US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black physician, was shot to death on March 13, 2020, by Louisville, Ky., police officers who had knocked on her door while serving a search warrant. Taylor’s friend shot one of the officers as they walked through the door, and they returned fire, hitting Taylor multiple times. Garland said federal officials “share but cannot fully imagine the grief” Taylor’s family is feeling. “Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” he said. The federal charges allege that the affidavit used to secure the residency for Taylor’s residence was falsified. The officers who conducted the raid were not involved in the affidavit process, Garland said, and were unaware of the alleged tampering. Garland claimed that in May 2020, Janes and Goodlett “met in a garage where they agreed to tell investigators a false story” about the deadly raid. Meany is also accused of lying to the FBI in an interview about the incident.
The police department’s investigation is ongoing
Hankison, who was fired from the department in 2020, was one of the officers at Taylor’s door and one of three people shot that night. He is accused by the Justice Department of using “constitutionally excessive force” in the raid, which included firing his gun through a window with the blinds drawn. Current and former Louisville, Kentucky police officers charged with federal crimes in connection with Breona Taylor’s death Charges include federal civil rights violations, unlawful conspiracy, obstruction offenses and use of excessive forcehttps://t.co/95WARfwja9 — @CivilRights A jury acquitted him of state charges of wanton endangerment earlier this year in Louisville. Janes had requested the warrant to search Taylor’s home. He was fired in January 2021 by former Louisville Interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry for violating department standards in preparing to execute a search warrant and for being “untruthful” in the Taylor warrant. Justice Department officials said Thursday that a broader investigation is underway into whether the Louisville Police Department engaged in a so-called “pattern or practice” of breaking the law.
