Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A federal jury in Louisville, Kentucky, today convicted a former Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officer for violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor during the execution of a search warrant in March 2020 that led to the tragic death of Taylor in her home.
Brett Hankison, 46, was convicted on one count of civil rights abuse. Count one charged him with depriving Taylor of her constitutional rights when he fired five shots through a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain. The jury found that Hankison used a dangerous weapon in the commission of the offense, and that his conduct involved an attempt to kill, although his shots did not strike Taylor. Hankison was found not guilty on count two, which charged him with depriving three of Taylor’s neighbors of their constitutional rights by firing five more shots through a sliding glass door that was also covered with blinds and a curtain.
“Today, Brett Hankison was found guilty by a jury of his peers for willfully depriving Breonna Taylor of her constitutional rights,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “His use of deadly force was unlawful and put Ms. Taylor in harm’s way. This verdict is an important step toward accountability for the violation of Breonna Taylor’s civil rights, but justice for the loss of Ms. Taylor is a task that exceeds human capacity.”
“This defendant is being held accountable for his willful and heinous use of deadly force that endangered the life of Breonna Taylor,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. 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. We hope that communities use this moment to say her name and to engrave on their hearts and minds Breonna Taylor’s life and enduring legacy. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously defend the civil rights of every person in this country to be free from unlawful police violence.”
According to evidence at trial, during the execution of the warrant at Taylor’s home, officers knocked on Taylor’s door and announced themselves as police at approximately 12:45 a.m. No one answered the door, and the officers saw no indication that anyone in the home was awake or had heard their announcement. The police then rammed the door open and Taylor’s boyfriend, believing that intruders were breaking in, fired his handgun one time at officers, two of whom fired back, hitting and killing Taylor.
Hankison was not one of the officers who fired from the doorway. He fired separately, from the side of the building, through a sliding glass door and a bedroom window, both of which were covered with closed blinds and curtains. Evidence showed that several of Hankison’s shots passed through Taylor’s apartment, pierced the interior walls and narrowly missed a young couple with a five-year-old child living next door to Taylor. Other shots flew over Taylor’s head as she lay on the floor of her apartment.
At trial, numerous law enforcement witnesses testified that officers are trained never to fire their weapons at a target they cannot see. Officers who were on the scene for the execution of the warrant, and others who responded later, testified that Hankison violated LMPD training and the principles of law enforcement when he fired blindly into a crowded apartment complex. The Commander of LMPD’s SWAT unit, who responded to the scene shortly after the shooting, testified that he was in “shock and disbelief” when he learned that Hankison had fired into the covered windows in Ms. Taylor’s home. The jury also heard from her neighbors, who were nearly hit by Hankison’s bullets.
Hankison will be sentenced on March 12, 2025. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Two other LMPD officers remain charged in connection with the search warrant executed at Taylor’s home. Former Detective Joshua Jaynes, 40, and LMPD Sergeant Kyle Meany, 35, are charged with federal civil rights and obstruction offenses for their roles in preparing and approving a falsified search warrant affidavit that resulted in the warrant that led to Taylor’s death. A trial will be set for a later date, and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Another former LMPD officer, Detective Kelly Goodlett, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with Jaynes to falsify the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for Taylor’s home and to cover up their actions after Taylor’s death. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 29, 2025.
The FBI Louisville Field Office investigated the case.
Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer and Trial Attorney Anna Gotfryd of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.