Louisville Police To Fire 2 More Officers Involved In Death Of Breonna Taylor

Caption

Two more Louisville police officers have been told they will be fired in the wake of the death of Breonna Taylor, whose image is seen in a memorial in September. / AP

Two police officers who were part of the raid that ended with the shooting and death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, are reportedly being terminated by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The move comes nine months after Taylor was killed in her apartment when police attempted to carry out a search.

Attorneys for detectives Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes have confirmed to member station WFPL that both have been given pre-termination letters by Chief Yvette Gentry.

"We intend to show up to the pre-termination hearing on Dec. 31 and we're going to contest this action, although I'm not optimistic about Interim Chief Gentry changing her decision," said Thomas Clay, the lawyer for Jaynes. NPR was unable to contact Clay for comment.

Jaynes was not at the raid. He was responsible for obtaining the police warrant that led to the incident at Taylor's home.

Jaynes asked the court to issue a warrant, supporting his request by saying that police learned from a postal inspector that a drug suspect, Taylor's ex-boyfriend, had received packages at her address. But he later acknowledged to investigators that he had not verified that information with a postal inspector.

"These are extreme violations of our policies, which endangered others," Chief Gentry wrote in the pre-termination letter obtained by The New York Times.

Cosgrove was one of multiple police officers who fired shots that killed Taylor. His lawyer did not give a comment for WFPL.

Tuesday's firings come after detective Brett Hankison was terminated in June.

When reached for comment, Louisville Metro Police Department told NPR that they are unable to give or send information on any parts of the case until it is closed.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.