$12M is NOT Justice, Arrest The Offenders

15 Sep, 2020

A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death civil lawsuit between the family of Breonna Taylor and the city of Louisville.

The deal includes $12 million for the family and also several police reforms, including hiring social workers to assist officers in certain calls, new drug testing rules, an incentive for officers to live in some low-income neighborhoods and a new level of scrutiny over search warrants.

Mayor Greg Fischer announced the changes at a press conference Tuesday with Taylor’s family, attorneys Lonita Baker and Ben Crump, and representatives from the ACLU of Kentucky and Until Freedom.

Baker said they would not negotiate a civil settlement unless it came with police reforms.

“It’s important for her family that they minimize the risk of what happened to Breonna Taylor happening to any other family in Louisville, Kentucky. And we’re going to continue that fight beyond Louisville, Kentucky, and throughout this country to protect and reform police departments across America,” Baker said.

County Attorney Mike O’Connell said those reforms were discussed by parties on both sides over several weeks.

“My hope is this agreement is the next step in building a more just Louisville. A more just Louisville is the medicine we need to heal,” he said.

As for the payout, the mayor’s office said it is the largest city settlement involving LMPD action.

Crump, a national civil rights attorney, said he believes $12 million is the also the largest settlement a city has ever paid out in a wrongful death lawsuit for a Black woman killed by police, possibly the most for any Black person, in the United States. WLKY has not independently verified that.

“It has been so long to get to this day where we could assure that Breonna Taylor’s life wouldn’t be swept under the rug, like so many other Black women in America who have been killed by police,” Crump said.

The money comes from multiple sources:

• $5 million comes from an outside insurance carrier
• $2 million comes from the LAGIT trust fund
• $5 million is from other Metro funds

Fischer said the city is not admitting wrongdoing in this settlement, but is acknowledging the need for reform. He also said the timing of the settlement is not related to reports that a grand jury is currently meeting to determine whether there will be any criminal indictments in this case.

“While we await a decision from Attorney General Daniel Cameron on whether or not charges will be filed in this case, my administration is not waiting to move ahead with reforms to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again,” Fischer said.

Taylor, 26, was killed early on March 13 when Louisville officers raided her home while serving a search warrant related to a drug investigation.

Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were inside at the time. Walker fired at police upon their entry, saying later he believed them to be intruders, and three officers returned fire. Taylor was shot by the officers in her hallway.

No drugs were found in her home.

Walker was arrested and charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but was released in May. He has filed a lawsuit seeking immunity from criminal charges.

Sgt. Jon Mattingly was shot in the leg during the incident, but has since recovered. He and Detectives Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison were placed on administrative reassignment. Hankison was later fired.

The detective who sought the “no-knock” warrant for Taylor’s apartment, Joshua Jaynes, was also put on reassignment, but not until months later in June.

Whether they will face charges is still undecided by the attorney general’s office, but a decision could come any day.

Baker said Tuesday that her team has faith an indictment from the grand jury is coming. “We are not going to stop our calls to hold the officers responsible for Breonna’s death accountable,” Baker said.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, asked that those who have spent months protesting continue to say her daughter’s name.

“It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and more,” Palmer said.

WLKY.com

Image vanitaguptaCR twitter

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