Timeline of events since Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Here is a timeline of the events that began with the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in her home in Louisville, Kentucky:
– March 13, 2020: Officers serving a narcotics warrant fatally shoot Taylor in her home.
– March 13, hours later: Police announce the arrest of Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, for wounding an officer during a gunfire; Taylor is not identified at the news conference and is described as “an unresponsive female who was later pronounced dead.”
– March, April 2020: The shooting stays out of the headlines as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in the US
– April 27, 2020: Taylor’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department and the city, challenging the police’s story.
– May 22, 2020: Prosecutors announce they will drop attempted murder charges against Walker, who shot at officers in his girlfriend’s home.
– May 28, 2020: Walker’s anguished 911 call is released, three days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota, sparking large protests in Louisville.
– May 29, 2020: Mayor Greg Fischer suspends the use of trespassing orders by the Louisville Police Department.
– June 1, 2020: Fischer fires Police Chief Steve Conrad after officers failed to turn on body cameras in the shooting of barbecue chef David McAtee during protests in Louisville.
– June 11, 2020: Louisville Metro Council unanimously passes the “Breonna Law,” which bans the use of no-knock warrants.
– June 23, 2020: Officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers who fired shots the night of Taylor’s death, is fired for firing “blindly” into Taylor’s apartment.
– September 15, 2020: The city announces a civil settlement that gives Taylor’s family $12 million and promises police reforms.
– September 23, 2020: A Kentucky grand jury indicts Hankison for shooting into neighboring apartments, but has not charged any officers for their role in Taylor’s death.
– April 26, 2021: Attorney General Merrick Garland announces a Department of Justice investigation into Louisville police following Taylor’s death.
– March 3, 2022: Former Kentucky police detective Brett Hankison is acquitted of state charges that he endangered neighbors when he fired into Taylor’s apartment during a botched drug raid that resulted in Taylor’s death.
– December 12, 2022: Walker settles two lawsuits against the city of Louisville. The city agrees to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits Walker filed in federal and state court.
– March 8, 2023: The U.S. Department of Justice finds that the Louisville Police Department has engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community following an investigation into Taylor’s death.
– Nov. 16, 2023: Jurors fail to reach a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges in the trial of Hankison, who was charged in the police raid that killed Taylor. The judge declares a mistrial.
– December 13, 2023: Federal prosecutors tell a judge they plan to retry Hankison.
– August 23, 2024: A federal judge dismisses felony charges against two former Louisville officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, who were accused of forging a warrant that led police to Taylor’s door before fatally shooting her.
– October 1, 2024: Federal prosecutors file new charges against Jaynes and Meany.
– November 2, 2024: A federal jury convicts Hankison of using excessive force against Taylor during a botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead. This is the first conviction of a Louisville police officer involved in the deadly raid.
– December 12, 2024: The U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Louisville reach an agreement to reform the city’s police department following an investigation into Taylor’s death.