Breonna Taylor lawsuit settled
Louisville, Ky., will pay the slain woman’s family $12 million and reform police practices.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The city of Louisville agreed to pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and to reform police practices as part of a settlement announced Tuesday, months after the Black woman’s slaying by police thrust her name to the forefront of a national reckoning on race.
But those who have taken up Taylor’s cause said more must be done to right the wrongs of racial injustice in America. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, speaking at a news conference, urged people to continue to “say her name” — evoking what has become a national refrain for those outraged by the shooting and other police violence.
Taylor’s killing sparked nightly protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be criminally charged. State Atty. Gen. Daniel Cameron is investigating the March 13 shooting.
“I cannot begin to imagine Ms. Palmer’s pain, and I am deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in announcing the settlement terms.
Standing nearby as he spoke, Palmer said the police reforms were not enough. “It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more.”
The lawsuit accused police of using flawed information when they obtained a “no-knock” warrant to enter Taylor’s apartment. Taylor, 26, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were roused from bed by police, and Walker fired at them, thinking they were intruders. Investigators say police were returning fire when they shot Taylor several times.
Dissatisfaction with the settlement extended to “Injustice Square” in downtown Louisville, where protesters have gathered daily for 113 days. Some said the price for a life seemed low, the promised reforms too little and too late.
“It’s just not enough,” said Holly McGlawn, who noted that Taylor was young and could have worked for another 40 or 50 years.
“You can’t put a price on a Black woman being able to sleep at night and know she’s not going to get murdered,” McGlawn said.
Taylor’s slaying — along with the police killings or maimings of George Floyd and others — has become a rallying cry for protesters seeking racial justice and police reform.
Palmer’s lawsuit accused three Louisville police officers of blindly firing into the apartment, striking her daughter several times. One of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly, went inside once the door was broken down and was struck in the leg by the gunshot from Walker.
The warrant was one of five issued in a wide-ranging investigation of a drug-trafficking suspect who was a former boyfriend of Taylor’s. That man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested about 10 miles away the same evening.
The settlement includes reforms on how police handle warrants, Fischer said.
Other reforms would establish a housing credit program to encourage officers to live in certain low-income areas in the city. Officers will also be encouraged to perform volunteer work in the communities where they serve.
The city has already passed a law named for Taylor that bans no-knock warrants.
Fischer fired former Police Chief Steve Conrad in June and last week named Yvette Gentry, a former deputy chief, as interim chief. Gentry would be the first Black woman to lead the force of about 1,200 sworn officers.
The department has also fired Brett Hankison, one of the three officers who fired shots in Taylor’s apartment.