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‘Not Guilty’ was the verdict by a jury on Thursday, related to Ex-Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison’s three charges of felony wanton endangerment in connection with the raid that left Breonna Taylor dead on March 13, 2020.
As reported by The Louisville Courier-Journal, a Jefferson County jury of eight men and four women deliberated for three hours before returning with a not guilty verdict on Thursday after five days of witness testimony.
Breonna Taylor’s murderer still walks free.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Louisville Thursday night hours after the jury’s acquittal announcement. Hankison’s defense attorney Stewart Mathews said “Justice was done. The verdict was proper and we are thrilled,” CNN reports.
According to The Louisville Courier-Journal, Hankison fired 10 rounds through a covered patio door and bedroom window. Some of those bullets traveled into an adjacent apartment with a pregnant woman, her partner, and their 5-year-old son inside. None of them were injured.
“Only in Kentucky. Everybody got justice for 2020, but for Kentucky, we can’t even get wanton endangerment charges,” said Tyra Walker, co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
“Not Guilty” police verdicts are as American as apple pie.
Cheyenne Osuala was in the courtroom these past several days, after being in the streets marching for months, hoping for criminal charges against the officers involved. Instead, she heard the not guilty verdict. “I personally broke down afterwards because I felt like we went through so much trauma protesting for almost two years and it feels like for nothing,” Osuala told WLKY.
Protesters are planning to meet at Jefferson Square Friday afternoon. They are encouraging people to bring signs to be a part of the peaceful demonstration.
In response to the police-killing of Taylor, the Louisville Metro Council passed “Breonna’s Law,” which bans no-knock search warrants.
Taylor’s family received $12 million from the city as part of a settlement, though they were hoping a not guilty verdict would help provide some semblance of justice.