The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) has fired two detectives involved in the police raid that killed Breonna Taylor in March, including the officer who fired the shot that killed the 26-year-old EMT in her home.
The Louisville Courier Journal reported Wednesday that Miles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes were fired the previous day. The Associated Press reported on Monday that the two detectives met with LMPD Interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry earlier that day as part of their termination hearings.
Cosgrove and Jaynes are the second and third officers to be dismissed from the department following the killing of Taylor. Former officer Brett Hankison was terminated in June after it was determined that he “blindly” fired into Taylor’s apartment 10 times.
Cosgrove, Hankison and officer Jonathan Mattingly all entered Taylor’s apartment in execution of a no-knock warrant on March 13. Taylor and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker were asleep at the time.
Police were granted the no-knock warrant under the belief that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, had been using her apartment as a place to keep drugs and drug-related money, but neither were found in the apartment.
LMPD discovered that Jaynes, who was responsible for procuring the warrant, lied about Taylor in order to obtain the warrant, according to the Courier Journal. Additionally, Cosgrove was found to have violated LMPD use-of-force procedure by failing to wear a body camera.
Walker, who has said he thought the officers were intruders, opened fire on police. The three officers returned fire, hitting Taylor numerous times and killing her.
Six shots from Mattingly and Cosgrove hit Taylor, with one of the bullets fired by Cosgrove proving to be fatal. However, a Kentucky grand jury only levied three lesser charges of wanton endangerment against Hankison. The charges stemmed from multiple bullets he fired hitting an adjacent apartment where three people unrelated to the case resided, meaning none of the officers were directly charged with Taylor’s death.
The grand jury’s decision sparked protests in Louisville and other U.S. cities.
During a press conference following the grand jury’s decision, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) said that under state law, Cosgrove and Mattingly were “justified” in their use of deadly force since Walker shot first.
Cameron later acknowledged that he never brought forth murder charges to the grand jury panel.
In September, the city of Louisville reached a record $12 million settlement with Taylor’s family.
Over the summer, Taylor’s name became a rallying cry — “Say her name” — for nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism that were spearheaded by the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement.