Breonna Taylor: 26 years old 

Favorite song: “Everything” by Mary J. Blige 

Favorite color: purple and blue 

Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old ER technician living in Louisville, Kentucky. On March 13, 2020 at 12:43 am, seven plainclothes police officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant on her apartment while she was home with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Police claimed that they announced their presence before breaking down the door, though they were not required to with a no-knock warrant and were not wearing body cameras. Multiple witnesses after the event, including Kenneth, claim they did not hear police announce themselves. Kenneth, who was licensed to carry a firearm, fired his gun once in the direction of the officers. The officers fired 32 shots in return, hitting Breonna six times. 

No drugs were found in Breonna’s home, and there were multiple failures and mistakes in the original drug investigation, allowing a search warrant to be granted on the erroneous information that Taylor was receiving suspicious packages tied to Jamarcus Glover at her home. Glover, a man Breonna dated two years prior, was one of the primary targets of the investigation and was arrested at a separate residence the same evening. Police documents offer conflicting accounts of whether officers executed the search warrants simultaneously at both residences, with some paperwork stating that police arrested Glover as early as 12:00 am that morning, 40 minutes prior to the shooting at Taylor’s apartment. Glover has said that he learned of Taylor’s death while handcuffed on the sidewalk, hearing on the police radios that there had been shots fired at her address.  

Kenneth Walker initially faced charges of first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer, charges that were dismissed with prejudice, meaning he cannot be recharged for the shooting. He reached a $2 million settlement with the City of Louisville in 2022. 

Multiple members of the LMPD resigned or were fired after Breonna’s death, and thus far, two people have been convicted in cases related to the shooting: Kelly Goodlett, who was not present at the shooting, pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy for lying on the warrant and writing a false report to cover it up. Brett Hankison, one of the three officers who fired bullets that night, was found guilty of violating Taylor’s civil rights through his use of excessive force. The US Justice Department filed a sentencing recommendation for one day in prison and three years of supervised release. The judge declined the Justice Department’s request, sentencing Hankison to 33 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. A state grand jury chose not to indict the other two officers who fired bullets. Forensic evidence has shown that it is likely none of the bullets Hankison fired hit Breonna, the six shots had come from the other two officers. 

The Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously to ban no-knock warrants, and with the passage of “Breonna’s Law”, all officers who serve warrants are required to wear body cameras, and to have them turned on from at least five minutes before the warrant is served until at least five minutes afterward. 

Taylor’s family was awarded $12 million dollars in compensation and was given a promise the LMPD would reform its practices.