Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, confirmed on Instagram that her late daughter and Tyre Nichols share the same birthday. Both Taylor and Nichols died at the hands of police violence.
After Palmer shared her post, her friend and activist, Tamika Mallory, reflected on speaking about Nichols’ death with Palmer. Mallory explained that she had to console Palmer following the news.
“Yesterday, I spent 30 horrible minutes trying to calm down Breonna Taylor’s mother and my friend,” she stated. “She was hysterical after learning her daughter and Tyre share the same exact birthday to the year. She was damn near inconsolable and the only thing that broke her mourning was me saying, ‘Sis, you are going to get sick. Please stop before you get sick.’”
Mallory continued: “Then I cracked a personal joke and we were able to shift the conversation. We started cussing and talking about the war to stop this shit. So many emotions in 30 minutes. This shit is traumatizing… It’s NOT OK. I’m NOT OK!”
Nichols was brutalized by several Memphis police officers during a traffic stop. Video from the incident shows them punching and kicking him in the head repeatedly for three minutes. Nichols died three days later.
Breonna Taylor was fatally shot during a police raid on her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020.
Check out Tamika Palmer and Tamika Mallory’s posts on Instagram below.