Federal prosecutors have filed new indictments against two police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor in 2020. The indictments are against former Sgt. Kyle Meany and former detective Joshua Jaynes of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department. These indictments come after a judge ruled that Taylor’s death was caused by her boyfriend firing at the police, not the warrant that authorized the raid on her home.
The incident occurred on March 13, 2020, when officers entered Taylor’s apartment with guns drawn. Thinking they were intruders, Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot, prompting officers to respond with gunfire that killed Taylor. The new indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany lacked probable cause to obtain the warrant and relied on false and misleading information in their affidavit.
The officers were investigating a drug trafficking suspect who had previously dated Taylor and obtained search warrants for four properties near her home. They falsely stated that the suspect was receiving packages at Taylor’s home, which was later disproved. Despite SWAT officers being assigned to the other properties, non-SWAT officers were sent to execute the warrant at Taylor’s home without informing the SWAT unit.
Meany and Jaynes failed to inform the officers that Walker had a concealed weapons permit, and none of the officers knew about the handgun inside Taylor’s home. When the officers arrived at Taylor’s home, she and Walker were asleep and did not hear them announce themselves. Taylor was struck at least six times during the gunfire, while Walker was unharmed.
In August 2022, Meany and Jaynes were charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, with Jaynes facing additional charges of conspiracy and falsification of records. The most serious civil rights charges were dismissed last August but are now being appealed. Jaynes’ attorney is researching legal issues raised by the new indictment to address them properly.
Former detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiring to falsify the search warrant affidavit and lying to cover it up. Another officer involved in the raid, Brett Hankison, is expected to be retried after a jury deadlocked in his first trial. He was previously found not guilty of endangering Taylor’s neighbors.
The new indictments bring additional details to light and aim to revive the charges against the officers involved in Taylor’s death. The case continues to highlight issues of police accountability and the need for justice in cases of police misconduct.
