Heartbreak and anger have become all too familiar for Breonna Taylor’s family since her killing. Their fight for justice has often felt futile, with only one of the three former Louisville, Kentucky, police officers facing any accountability for her death.
That officer, Brett Hankison, fired 10 bullets that did not strike or kill the 26-year-old first responder. Yet, he was indicted in both federal and state courts for endangering the lives of Taylor’s neighbors. Last year, he was convicted on one count of civil rights abuse by firing blindly into her apartment.
Hankison faces up to life in prison based on federal sentencing guidelines and will be sentenced Monday.
Yet, on Wednesday, the Justice Department submitted a 1-day sentencing recommendation for the judge to consider for Hankison. In a 19-page recommendation, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, also asked for three years of supervised release.
In the five years since Taylor was killed, her mother, Tamika Palmer, has repeatedly broken down in tears during press conferences — each one marking another legal development in the case of her eldest daughter.
The Justice Department’s recommendation was just the latest blow and “an insult,” her attorney Ben Crump said in an emailed statement on July 17.
Louisville Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright said in response to the DOJ’s recommendation that Taylor’s case revealed Taylor’s case revealed “broader systemic failures,” and that 24-hours in jail as a form of punishment “is a devastating slap in the face.”
“Across Kentucky, people are serving far harsher sentences for crimes rooted in poverty — sentences that harmed no one,” Parrish-Wright wrote in the statement. “We who fight for justice, truth, and equity must continue. Because clearly, the scales remain severely unbalanced.”
“Still, she [Palmer] is holding out hope and praying that the judge will do what the DOJ has refused to do — uphold the law, respect the jury’s verdict, and deliver true justice,” Crump said.
“Every American who believes in equal justice under the law should be outraged,” Crump said. “It is unfathomable that, after finally securing a conviction, the Department of Justice would seek a sentence so drastically below the federal guidelines.”
All Palmer has ever wanted since March 2020 was to receive justice for her daughter and a fair sentence to fit the jury’s verdict.
After being acquitted in 2022 on state charges of endangering Taylor’s neighbors, Hankison faced a federal trial on charges of violating her civil rights, which ended in a mistrial. In November 2024, he was retried and convicted on one count of civil rights abuse.
Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for “blindly” shooting into Taylor’s apartment while executing a botched no-knock search warrant. The state enacted a law in 2021 that limits law enforcement from using no-knock warrants, and Taylor’s family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the city that included police reforms.
The two other shooting officers, Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly, were not charged. They were also terminated from the department.
Three other former officers — Kelly Goodlett, Joshua Jaynes, and Kyle Meany — were indicted on charges in connection to how the warrant was obtained and written.
Goodlett pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a federal conspiracy charge. Jaynes, a former detective, and Meany are awaiting trial after a federal judge presiding over their case ruled that Taylor’s death was the result of her boyfriend’s decision to fire a single shot at police first.
Though Taylor was killed months before George Floyd, her name echoed across the U.S. in the protests that followed. Her story became a defining call of the #SayHerName movement, demanding justice for Black women killed by police — too often overlooked, but never forgotten.
Correction: The Justice Department submitted its sentencing recommendation for Brett Hankison on Wednesday. An earlier version of this story had the wrong day.
Great Job Christina Carrega & the Team @ Capital B News Source link for sharing this story.
