Feds to retry ex-Louisville cop Brett Hankison in police raid death of Breonna Taylor
Federal prosecutors in Kentucky said they’ll retry a disgraced ex-Louisville cop over the 2020 death of Breonna Taylor during a botched police raid after a mistrial in the case last month.
Brett Hankison, 47, faces civil rights violations in Taylor’s March 13, 2020, shooting death inside her Louisville apartment but dodged a conviction when the jury remained deadlocked after 20 hours of deliberations on Nov. 26.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said they’ll try again, telling US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings they’ll take him back to trial “sooner rather than later,” WDRB-TV News reported.
The highly explosive fatal shooting came amid a surge in the Black Lives Matter movement that questioned excessive police violence targeting black residents like Taylor.
Taylor, 26, was shot and killed when Louisville cops stormed her home as part of a drug investigation targeting her ex-boyfriend, who no longer lived with her.
Her new boyfriend, claiming he believed the raid was a push-in robbery, grabbed a gun and fired at the cops, striking one of them while three of the officers — including Hankison — returned fire.
Taylor was struck six times and killed.
Lonita Baker, an attorney representing Taylor’s family, told reporters after the November mistrial that they were disappointed by the outcome of that trial but held out hope for justice.
“This is not the outcome they wanted, but we are here for the long game,” Baker said at the time. “We live for another day to fight for justice for Breonna.”
Hankison, whose 10 shots did not strike the unarmed woman, was cleared of state criminal charges following the raid but is still facing federal counts for allegedly using excessive force during the raid.
One of the cops, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty last year, while charges are still pending against two others — Joshua Haynes and Sgt. Kyle Meaney. Both are awaiting trial in federal court.
Hankison’s lawyer, Stew Matthews, told jurors during last month’s trial that the former cop was simply reacting when he returned fire after Taylor’s boyfriend shot at the officers.
“If someone fires at the police, the police are going to fire back at you,” Matthews told the panel. “And that’s exactly what happened here.”
