"Breonna Taylor was killed at the age of 26 in her own home on March 13th in Louisville, Kentucky. Police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove came to her house out of uniform and forced entry. The three officers said that they knocked several times but it was later said that the people inside heard nothing."--Satise GRimes, 9th grade
Breonna Taylor was killed at the age of 26 in her own home on March 13th in Louisville, Kentucky. Police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove came to her house out of uniform and forced entry. The three officers said that they knocked several times but it was later said that the people inside heard nothing.
In a Newsbreak article by Ray Sanchez, Elizabeth Joseph and Nicole Chavez it was reported that “Officers banged ‘six or seven’ times before breaking into the apartment, where Taylor was with her boyfriend. But Taylor's boyfriend who was inside the apartment, told investigators they kept asking who was knocking on the door and heard no response.”
When they forced entry they were shot at by Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker. The police returned fire and that’s when Taylor was shot fatally. When asked about the shootings, Officer Cosgrove recalled, “I see blinding, vivid, white light and I see blackness at the same time. Just dark, deep black and these vivid white flashes" “
During Taylor’s life she was often described as hardworking and responsible. In a New York Times podcast on the life and legacy of Breonna Taylor, one of her friends recalled some of her earliest memories with Taylor. “We spoke to one of her oldest friends who said that her mom, when they were children, would not let her go to sleepovers at all, except if the sleepover was at Breonna’s house. Why? Because Breonna was considered the responsible one. She was the one among their little group of friends who made sure that the other girls got to school on time if there was a sleepover, who made sure that they did their homework. She seemed to be taking almost an adult role in her immediate circle.”
This is an example of the responsibilities she had at a young age and the trust that people put in her. Her mother,Tamika Palmer, talked about how Taylor always had plans and she stuck with them. In the same podcast Palmer went on to say that, “[Taylor] was one of those people, she made a plan, and she went. That was it. Like, it has to be done this way.”
On September 23rd a “Kentucky grand jury determined that two officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor were justified in firing their weapons into her apartment, while another was charged with recklessly firing rounds that endangered people in a neighboring unit, an outcome that has inflamed racial protests nationwide,” according to the Washington Post. On September 23rd a “Kentucky grand jury determined that two officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor were justified in firing their weapons into her apartment, while another was charged with recklessly firing rounds that endangered people in a neighboring unit, an outcome that has inflamed racial protests nationwide,” according to the Washington Post. When the grand jury spoke about Taylor and the incident they referred to the officers’ actions as negligent and criminal, however no one was held responsible for her death, however no one was held responsible for her death "They couldn't even provide a risk assessment," one of the anonymous grand jurors, identified as juror one, said in an interview scheduled to air Wednesday on CBS This Morning. "And it sounded like they hadn't done one."
Many in Louisville and across the nation are protesting the Grand Jury’s decision. In the same Washington Post piece, Roger A. Fairfax Jr., a law professor at George Washington University went as far as to say that “I think that there may be grounds for considering a new grand jury investigation with a different set of prosecutors,” he said. “It may reach the same outcome, but there might be greater public confidence in those proceedings at the end of the day.”
In a Newsbreak article by Ray Sanchez, Elizabeth Joseph and Nicole Chavez it was reported that “Officers banged ‘six or seven’ times before breaking into the apartment, where Taylor was with her boyfriend. But Taylor's boyfriend who was inside the apartment, told investigators they kept asking who was knocking on the door and heard no response.”
When they forced entry they were shot at by Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker. The police returned fire and that’s when Taylor was shot fatally. When asked about the shootings, Officer Cosgrove recalled, “I see blinding, vivid, white light and I see blackness at the same time. Just dark, deep black and these vivid white flashes" “
During Taylor’s life she was often described as hardworking and responsible. In a New York Times podcast on the life and legacy of Breonna Taylor, one of her friends recalled some of her earliest memories with Taylor. “We spoke to one of her oldest friends who said that her mom, when they were children, would not let her go to sleepovers at all, except if the sleepover was at Breonna’s house. Why? Because Breonna was considered the responsible one. She was the one among their little group of friends who made sure that the other girls got to school on time if there was a sleepover, who made sure that they did their homework. She seemed to be taking almost an adult role in her immediate circle.”
This is an example of the responsibilities she had at a young age and the trust that people put in her. Her mother,Tamika Palmer, talked about how Taylor always had plans and she stuck with them. In the same podcast Palmer went on to say that, “[Taylor] was one of those people, she made a plan, and she went. That was it. Like, it has to be done this way.”
On September 23rd a “Kentucky grand jury determined that two officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor were justified in firing their weapons into her apartment, while another was charged with recklessly firing rounds that endangered people in a neighboring unit, an outcome that has inflamed racial protests nationwide,” according to the Washington Post. On September 23rd a “Kentucky grand jury determined that two officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor were justified in firing their weapons into her apartment, while another was charged with recklessly firing rounds that endangered people in a neighboring unit, an outcome that has inflamed racial protests nationwide,” according to the Washington Post. When the grand jury spoke about Taylor and the incident they referred to the officers’ actions as negligent and criminal, however no one was held responsible for her death, however no one was held responsible for her death "They couldn't even provide a risk assessment," one of the anonymous grand jurors, identified as juror one, said in an interview scheduled to air Wednesday on CBS This Morning. "And it sounded like they hadn't done one."
Many in Louisville and across the nation are protesting the Grand Jury’s decision. In the same Washington Post piece, Roger A. Fairfax Jr., a law professor at George Washington University went as far as to say that “I think that there may be grounds for considering a new grand jury investigation with a different set of prosecutors,” he said. “It may reach the same outcome, but there might be greater public confidence in those proceedings at the end of the day.”
