Federal Judge Rules Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend Caused Her Death

A federal judge has dismissed significant felony charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. This ruling has drawn considerable attention amid the ongoing scrutiny surrounding the events of her death.

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson’s decision emphasized that the actions of Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who fired a shot at the police during the raid, were deemed the legal cause of her death, overshadowing concerns regarding the validity of the warrant.

The federal charges against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced in 2022 by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland during a notable visit to Louisville. Garland accused the two officers of being aware of the falsification of elements in the warrant, putting Taylor in a precarious situation by sending armed officers to her apartment.

In his ruling, Judge Simpson stated that there was “no direct link between the warrantless entry and Taylor’s death,” effectively lessening the charges against Jaynes and Meany from serious civil rights violations, which carried heavy penalties, to lesser misdemeanor counts.

Despite the dismissal of major charges, the judge chose not to throw out a conspiracy charge against Jaynes, nor did he dismiss a separate charge against Meany for making false statements to investigators.

The incident at the heart of this case took place in March 2020 when police, executing a drug warrant, forcibly entered Taylor’s home. During this time, Kenneth Walker fired at officers, believing them to be intruders. The police returned fire, tragically hitting and killing Taylor, who was only 26 years old.

In his written conclusions, Judge Simpson noted that Walker’s actions were the proximate cause of Taylor’s death. He remarked, “While the indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany set off a series of events that ended in Taylor’s death, it also alleges that Walker disrupted those events when he decided to open fire.”

Initially, Walker faced charges of attempted murder of a police officer, but those charges were subsequently dropped after his legal team contended that Walker had no way of knowing he was firing at law enforcement officers.

In 2022, a third former officer involved in the case, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in relation to the warrant. She is anticipated to testify against Jaynes and Meany during their forthcoming trials.

According to federal prosecutors, Jaynes, who was responsible for drafting the warrant for Taylor’s home, falsely claimed to Goodlett that he had “verified” with a postal inspector that a suspected drug dealer was receiving packages at Taylor’s residence. Goodlett was aware this was untrue and informed Jaynes that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to connect Taylor to any criminal activity at that point. In an added paragraph to the warrant, she indicated that the suspected drug dealer had been using Taylor’s address.

Following Taylor’s shooting, which gained national attention, Jaynes and Goodlett reportedly met in Jaynes’ garage to ensure their statements were coordinated before he spoke to investigators about the warrant.

Another former officer, Brett Hankison, was also charged by federal authorities in 2022 for endangering the lives of Taylor, Walker, and nearby residents by firing shots into Taylor’s apartment. Following a trial last year that resulted in a hung jury, Hankison is now scheduled for retrial on these charges later this month.