Killing of Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor, aged 26, was an African-American medical worker who was killed on March 13, 2020, after police officers from Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) forced entry into her home. Mistaking the police for intruders, Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot, striking officer Jonathan Mattingly. Mattingly and two other LMPD officers—Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove—opened fire. It was determined that Cosgrove fired the fatal shot to Taylor and that none of Hankison's shots hit anyone. Taylor's family was awarded $12 million in compensation and was given a promise the LMPD would reform its practices.

The killing of Taylor by police officers, and the initial lack of charges against the LMPD officers involved, sparked numerous protests with supporters adopting the motto #SayHerName. These protests against police brutality and racism were concurrent with the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement across the United States. The civil unrest was exacerbated when the grand jury chose not to indict Mattingly or Cosgrove—the officers who shot Taylor. Prosecutors said their use of force was justified as Walker fired first. Some jurors accused Attorney General Daniel Cameron of covering up what happened.

On August 23, 2022, Officer Kelly Goodlett, who was not present during the raid, pled guilty to charges related to obtaining the warrant used. As of April 2025, her sentencing has been set for February 2026.

On November 1, 2024, a federal jury found Brett Hankison guilty of depriving Taylor of her civil rights for using excessive force. On July 21, 2025, he was sentenced to 2+3⁄4 years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release.

On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing operations. Three Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers—Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove—were involved in the shooting. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was inside the apartment with her when the plainclothes officers knocked on the door and then forced entry.

The officers said they announced themselves as police before forcing entry, but Walker said he did not hear any announcement and thought the officers were intruders. Walker fired his gun in the direction of the officers, in what he said was a warning shot. The shot hit Mattingly in the leg, and the officers fired 32 shots in return. Walker was unhurt, but Taylor was hit by six bullets and died. During the incident, Hankison moved to the side of the apartment and shot 10 bullets through a covered window and glass door. According to police, Taylor's home was never searched.

Walker was charged with assault and attempted murder of a police officer, but the charges were dismissed with prejudice a year later. In June 2020, the LMPD fired Hankison for blindly firing through the covered patio door and window of Taylor's apartment. In September, the city of Louisville agreed to pay Taylor's family $12 million and reform police practices. Cosgrove was determined to have fired the fatal shot that killed Taylor, and in 2021, the LMPD fired him.

Further in September, a state grand jury indicted Hankison on three counts of felony first-degree wanton endangerment for endangering Taylor's neighbors with his shots. In October, recordings from the grand jury investigation into the shooting were released. Two of the jurors released a statement saying that the grand jury was not presented with homicide charges against the officers. Several jurors have also accused Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron and the police of covering up what happened. On March 3, 2022, Hankison was acquitted of the endangerment charges by a jury in Kentucky v. Hankison.