US city of Louisville to pay family of Breonna Taylor $16 million over wrongful shooting

The multi-million dollar wrongful death settlement will include reforms on how warrants are handled by police.

Emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her home.

Emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her home. Source: AAP

The United States city of Louisville, Kentucky, will pay $16 million to the mother of Breonna Taylor and reform police procedures as part of a lawsuit settlement.

A person who has seen the settlement told the Associated Press it would be the largest sum paid by the city for a police misconduct case.

The source asked not to be identified because the settlement has not been announced publicly.
Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, will be awarded a $16m settlement.
Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, addresses the media in Louisville, Kentucky, in August. Source: AP
Ms Taylor's death sparked months of Black Lives Matter protests in Louisville and calls across the US for the officers to be criminally charged.

The state's attorney general, Daniel Cameron, is investigating police actions in the March 13 fatal shooting.

The lawsuit, filed in April by Ms Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, alleged the police used flawed information when they obtained a "no-knock" warrant to enter her apartment in March.

Ms Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was roused from her bed before being shot several times and police found no drugs at her home.
Ms Palmer has said she is trying to be patient about the results of Mr Cameron's criminal investigation and the long wait, which is now six months since her daughter's death.

One of the three officers, Brett Hankison, has since been fired, and the other two were suspended.

In that time, her daughter's slaying - along with George Floyd and others - has become a rallying cry for protesters seeking a reckoning on racial justice and police reform.

High-profile celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James and Lewis Hamilton have called for the officers to be charged in Ms Taylor's death.
The September issue of Oprah magazine, featuring Breonna Taylor.
The September issue of Oprah magazine, featuring Breonna Taylor. Source: Instagram
Ms Palmer's lawsuit accused three Louisville police officers of blindly firing into Ms Taylor's apartment the night of the March raid, striking her several times.

Ms Taylor's boyfriend Kenneth Walker was in the apartment with her and fired a single shot that struck an officer in the leg.
Mr Walker said he did not hear police announce themselves and said he thought he was guarding against an intruder.

The warrant was one of five issued in a wide-ranging investigation of a drug trafficking suspect who was a former boyfriend of Ms Taylor's.



That man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested at a different location about 16km away from Ms Taylor's apartment on the same evening.

The settlement will include reforms on how warrants are handled by police.


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3 min read
Published 16 September 2020 5:30am
Updated 16 September 2020 6:18am
Source: AAP


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