Breonna Taylor: Remember Her Story
Stories about Black History and more!
Breonna Taylor was in her apartment at about 12:40 am on March 13, 2020. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was with her. They had already turned in for the night and were in bed watching a movie, when Breonna fell asleep.
According to Kenneth Walker, they suddenly heard a loud bang at the door. They didn’t know who it was and thought it might be some kind of intruder at that time of night. Breonna yelled, “Who is it?” They heard no reply.
Kenneth and Breonna got out of bed and started putting on their clothes, when they heard another loud bang.
Breonna, again, yelled, “Who is it?” They heard no response.
Kenneth got his licensed firearm and they began walking out of the bedroom. The front door flung open and Kenneth let out a single shot toward the front door. Then a barrage of shots came into the apartment and Breonna never made it out of the hallway.
On the other side of the door were police officers, in plain clothes, who were executing a search warrant. This event was a part of a narcotics investigation where Breonna’s home had been identified as a place where a man she knew (who was a target in the investigation), received mail there and used the address as his own home address recently. The officer who secured the warrant indicated that he thought that the address might be a place where narcotics, or proceeds from the sale of narcotics, might be stored.
Neither Breonna Taylor nor Kenneth Walker were targets in this raid. Meanwhile, across town, about 10 miles away, the subject with whom Breonna’s home was associated was taken into custody, just before this raid began.
So, when Breonna and Kenneth got up because they heard loud banging at their door, they had no idea that their home was a part of an investigation and did not know that police were outside with a battering ram, ready to come in with a search warrant.
In a few moments Breonna was bleeding on the floor and Kenneth was yelling and wondering, “What happened?” He immediately called his mother, in shock, who told him to call 911. He called 911 in confusion and stated,
“I don’t know what just happened. Somebody kicked in the door inside my girlfriend’s…”
He later started to scream and cry out, “Help! Somebody help, oh my God!”
In response to the 911 operator’s question, he said that Breonna was shot in the stomach, he thought. The operator asked him if he could turn her over on her back to get look at where she was shot, but he was too distraught. At this point he still didn’t know who shot Breonna and why—he told the operator that he had to call Breonna’s mother. He stayed on the phone with 911, while not knowing what was going on outside the front door, for at least two minutes. During that time you can hear nobody in the background, telling him what to do or identifying that they were police and giving him instructions.
Eventually, he did get instructions.
A few minutes later, there is video, shot by a neighbor that does show officers in the parking lot of Breonna Taylor’s apartment complex, instructing Kenneth Walker to walk, backwards out of the apartment, into the parking lot—as he is still crying and complying with their instructions. Keep in mind, just fifteen minutes earlier, Breonna Taylor was in bed, sleeping with him.
Kenneth was taken into custody where he was questioned, and maintained, the entire time, that he did not know that it was police banging on the door and that he heard no one identify themselves as police when they came through the front door.
Kenneth was charged with murder, because his bullet struck the officer who was coming through the front door, but the charge was amended to “Attempted Murder—Police Officer”. By March 19, 2020 a grand jury heard the case against Kenneth Walker.
In Kenneth’s complaint, which he filed in September of 2020, Kenneth alleged that the officer who testified in front of the grand jury (which was one of the officers who questioned him at the station) did not mention anything about Breonna, nor did she mention that Kenneth maintained that he was acting in self-defense. She only mentioned that he shot an officer while the police were executing a lawful warrant.
Kenneth Walker was indicted on charges of Attempted Murder and First-Degree Assault. He was kept in jail for a period of a couple of weeks and then sent home on home incarceration.
The charges against Kenneth Walker were dismissed two months later, but with the possibility that they could bring charges again before a grand jury, if the evidence suggests so.
As for the officers, a grand jury heard evidence during the week of Sept. 21st and issued an indictment for one of the officers.
That night, one officer was shot (by Kenneth Walker when the door was flung open) in the thigh and he fired six shots in return. Another officer fired 16 times into Breonna’s apartment and it is believed that one of these shots killed Breonna Taylor (who was struck at least 5 times by bullets).
A third officer fired 10 times, from outside of the apartment, through the patio door, which was covered by curtains, and through a window, through which he could also not see. Some of his bullets ended up endangering residents in the apartment next to Breonna’s apartment. He was fired, later on, and was the only officer to be indicted by the grand jury—not for endangering Breonna’s life, but for Wanton Endangerment in the First Degree of the people next door!
References:
Duvall, Tessa and Costello, Darcy. “Louisville police ‘no—knock; search warrant in fatal shooting of ER tech in her home.” Courier Journal. May 12, 2020. Updated August 30, 2020. Accessed Sept. 22, 2020.
Kenneth Walker III v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Complaint for Declaratory and Monetary Relief.
Oppel, Richard and Bryson Taylor, Derrick. “Here’s What You Need to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death,” The New York Times. Sept. 21, 2020. Accessed September 22, 2020.
Wise, John P. “Judge releases man who officer during deadly confrontation 2 weeks ago.” Wave2 News. March 27, 2020. Accessed Sept. 22, 2020.
Wise, John P. ”Jon Mattingly: Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting sends candid email to LMPD colleagues”. WAVE 3 New 725 S. Floyd Street.
WLKY News Louisville. “AUDIO: 911 call from Kenneth Walker night Breonna Taylor died.” YouTube posted, May 28, 2020, https://youtu.be/G0EnRabtRhg Accessed September 23, 2020.