Breonna Taylor's Civil Rights Were Violated by Ex-Louisville Officer, Jury Determines

Former police detective Brett Hankison was convicted on Friday, Nov. 1, for his role in the botched 2020 drug raid in Louisville that ended with Taylor dying from a gunshot wound

A federal jury has convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor and depriving her of her civil rights.

According to reports from the Associated Press, ABC News and Louisville Public Media, former detective Brett Hankison was convicted for his role in the botched 2020 drug raid in Louisville that ended with Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT who was asleep in her bed, dying from a gunshot wound.

The 12-person jury had cleared Hankison earlier on Friday, Nov. 1, of another charge accusing him of using excessive force on three of Taylor's neighbors, ABC reported, before returning this guilty verdict around 9:30 p.m.

Hankison's conviction is the only one so far among all of the officers who were involved in executing the search warrant, which was later shown to be based on faulty information, according to Louisville Public Media.

Related: Former Louisville Police Officers Indicted Again in Breonna Taylor Case, Accused of Falsifying Warrant

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division addressed the courthouse crowd after the verdict was read, saying: "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," Clarke added, per the AP.

Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, also spoke to the media after Hankison's conviction. She wiped away tears as the verdict was read.

"Thank God, thank God that He covered 12 jurors who chose to do the right thing, who took their time to understand what was really going on and that Breonna deserved justice," Palmer said, per Louisville Public Media.

Related: Breonna Taylor Remembered by Loved Ones on What Would Have Been Her 28th Birthday

"It took a lot of time. It took a lot of patience. It was hard. The jurors took their time to really understand that Breonna deserved justice," Palmer added, per the AP.

Shortly after midnight on the night of March 13, 2020, Taylor — an aspiring nurse who had been working as an EMT — was in her apartment with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker when Louisville Metro Police officers executing a no-knock warrant charged through the door. The warrant was connected to a narcotics investigation in which Taylor was not a suspect, and police did not find drugs or cash in her apartment.

Walker shot at police as they breached the front door, and officers allegedly responded by firing more than 20 bullets into the apartment, which eventually killed Taylor.

Taylor's shooting sparked months of protests in Louisville, and her name joined those of others invoked across the country by protesters seeking justice for Black victims of alleged bias or police brutality — among them Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, George Floyd in Minnesota and Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

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Neither of the officers who shot Taylor — former Sgt. John Mattingly and former Detective Myles Cosgrove — have been charged in her death, according to AP. Prosecutors said that they were both justified in returning fire, since Walker shot at them first.

This marked Hankison's second trial in this case, after a judge declared a mistrial last year. Hankison also previously faced three counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly firing 10 bullets into Taylor's apartment, but he was acquitted of the charges in March 2022.

Hankison is set to be sentenced on March 12, 2025, according to LPM. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:

• Campaign Zero works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
• ColorofChange.org works to make the government more responsive to racial disparities.

National Cares Mentoring Movement provides social and academic support to help Black youth succeed in college and beyond.