Louisville officials expected to announce ‘substantial’ financial settlement with Breonna Taylor’s family: report

The city of Louisville, Ky., has reportedly agreed to a “substantial” financial settlement with the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black EMT killed by police officers serving a no-knock warrant earlier this year.

A source told the Courier Journal in Louisville that the settlement will be announced Tuesday. It will also reportedly include reforms to the warrant process requiring police commanders approve any warrants before they can be submitted to a judge.

The agreement also reportedly offers financial incentives for Louisville Police Department officers who live within the city. Police reform advocates have noted that metropolitan police departments often have large percentages of officers who live outside the city or in its suburbs, contributing to a lack of connection with the community.

A Jefferson County, Ky., grand jury is currently considering whether to bring criminal charges in the case. Although one of the three officers involved in the shooting has been dismissed, no charges have been filed. Activists have frequently contrasted the lack of charges in the Taylor case with other high-profile cases, such as the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

Officers broke down Taylor’s apartment door the night of March 13 to serve the warrant as part of an investigation of an ex-boyfriend of hers who was not in the apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who has said officers entered unannounced, fired his gun and police returned fire, hitting Taylor five times.

Taylor’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit April 27, about a month before Floyd’s death in Minneapolis led to nationwide protests. In an amended complaint in July, the plaintiffs alleged that police were attempting to clear out the block where Taylor lived as part of a development project.

–Updated at 8:49 a.m.