26-year-old Breonna Taylor, a trainee EMT, passed away on March 13 in Louisville after police fired into her apartment.
According to the family attorney, she was ‘mutilated with bullet holes while in her underwear.’
Taylor’s relatives have filed a suit against the police. Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, said that the 26-year-old died while wearing only her underwear and described the police’s move as ‘reckless’ after they fired from all angles of the flat.
He told Essence: “Police just unloaded 25 to 30 rounds. I mean they’re shooting from the front door, they’re shooting from the window, they’re shooting from the patio.
“They’re so reckless, they shoot a bullet into the next door neighbor’s apartment where their five-year-old daughter is asleep in her room.”
Benjamin Crump is also one of the attorneys of the relatives of Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot dead by two men while jogging in Georgia. The shooters have been arrested and charged with murder.
Kentucky officers were investigating two men suspected of selling drugs. One of them was Jamarcus Glover, who didn’t live in Taylor’s apartment and had already been detained by the time cops showed up, the relatives claim.
According to Sam Aguiar, another family attorney, Taylor had dated Glover two years ago and did not have active communication with him.
Police in Louisville said they announced themselves and knock on Taylor’s door but many neighbors disputed that.
It then emerged that a judge had granted a ‘no-knock warrant,’ letting officers enter without requesting access as they believed drugs could be hidden in the apartment.
When officers arrived, Taylor’s partner, Kenneth Walker, said he woke up and thought someone broke into the apartment so he quickly fired a shot and hit an officer in the leg.
But police then fired over 20 rounds into the flat, hitting Taylor eight times.
Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer but police didn’t find any drugs in the apartment and the couple have no criminal history.
Taylor’s death sparked protests in Louisville, with fuming people gathering on Thursday and Friday nights. Vandals broke buildings, looted restaurants, broke glass, and set fires in an 8-hour demonstration.
“This is not a protest. It is violence,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “This violence and destruction is absolutely unacceptable. It besmirches any claim to honor Breonna Taylor’s memory.”
He added: “No one stands up for justice and equality by smashing windows and burning property. This destruction will not be tolerated.”
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