A former Kentucky police detective has been convicted in connection to the botched raid that led to the killing of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor.
According to the Associated Press, former detective Brett Hankison was convicted by a 12-person federal jury on Friday (November 1) of using excessive force and depriving Taylor's civil rights in the 2020 raid of her Louisville apartment.
Hankinson is the only officer involved in the raid who has been convicted thus far.
"We hope the jury’s verdict recognizing this violation of Ms. Taylor's civil and constitutional rights brings some small measure of comfort to her family and loved ones who have suffered so deeply from the tragic events of March 2020," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement, adding "Breonna Taylor’s life mattered."
On the night of March 13, 2020, Taylor was in her apartment with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when Louisville officers executed a no-knock warrant, which was later found to be based on faulty information. Walker shot at police as they charged through the door, believing officers were intruders. Officers shot into the apartment, firing the fatal one that killed Taylor.
The officers who shot Taylor, former Sgt. John Mattingly and former Detective Myles Cosgrove, haven't been charged in her death.
Hankison previously faced three counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly firing 10 bullets into Taylor's apartment, but he was acquitted in March 2022. He is set to be sentenced for his federal conviction in March 2025.
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