Photo: Getty Images
The boyfriend of Breonna Taylor has settled his lawsuit with Louisville Metro.
According to the Courier Journal, Louisville will pay Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, $2 million to settle a lawsuit in which he sought damages for the violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
The settlement comes after ex-Louisville police officers Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, and Jonathan Mattingly executed a botched “no-knock” drug raid on March 13, 2020 at Taylor's apartment, which she shared with Walker. As officers burst through their front door, Walker fired a legal gun, believing that someone was attempting to break into their home.
Officers then released a barrage of shots, hitting Taylor eight times.
“I don’t think I ever heard so many gunshots all at the same time,” Walker said previously. “I’ve never been to war, but I assume that’s what war sounds like.”
No drugs were found in Taylor's apartment. She wasn't the target of the investigation either.
In October 2020, Walker told King of the fatal incident: “If it was the police at the door and they just said ‘we’re the police,’ me or Breonna didn’t have a reason at all not to open the door and see what they wanted.”
His lawsuit stated that “the warrant was based on fabricated assertions; the raid was unnecessarily conducted in the middle of the night; the officers did not announce they were police; and the officers responded with excessive force.”
Mattingly, who was shot in the thigh by Walker, confirmed to the Courier Journal that the lawsuit was settled, and he and the other officers named in the suit were absolved from having to pay.
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.