The boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, Kenneth Walker, had his charges permanently dismissed by a Kentucky judge after a Monday ruling. Judge Olu Stevens ruled that Walker cannot be re-charged– the crimes and the charges would be dismissed with prejudice.
Last May, the charges against Walker were dropped without prejudice, meaning that he could be charged again if new information presented itself during the investigation. In a new report, prosecutors have noted that the investigation is now complete and that there is “no new information relevant to the charges” regarding Walker.
Walker was initially arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder after shooting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh on March 13, 2020. Having obtained a no-knock search warrant, LMPD officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove, barged into Taylor’s home on March 13th, 2020, while Taylor and Walker were asleep, in what has since been described as a “botched raid.” The raid was part of an ongoing drug investigation, with the officers wrongly suspecting Taylor. Thinking that the officers were intruders, Walker, a licensed gun owner, allegedly shot Mattingly in the leg, prompting the police officers to open fire with 32 shots of their own, six of which hit Taylor.
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During the raid, officers were looking for an ex-boyfriend of Taylor’s, Jamarcus Glover, and entered the apartment in search of illegal drugs. Taylor was a 26-year-old emergency medical technician when she was killed and had no criminal record. Glover was later arrested on drug charges last August.
Hankison was the only officer charged, giving him one count of wanton endangerment. According to The New York Times, Louisville city officials settled to pay Breonna Taylor’s family $12 million as part of the settlement, which also includes changes in policing to prevent future deaths.
Walker sued the city of Louisville and LMPD in September, seeking immunity and alleging he was the victim of police misconduct, but Stevens denied a motion to grant immunity. Walker faces a civil suit from Mattingly for the “severe trauma, mental anguish and emotional distress” Walker allegedly caused him the night of Taylor’s death and in the following months.
Rest in peace, Breonna Taylor.