Ex-officer Brett Hankison violated Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in deadly raid, jury finds

A jury on Friday found a former Louisville, Kentucky, police officer guilty of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights in a botched raid that led to her deathNBC affiliate WAVE of Louisville reported.

The jury also acquitted Brett Hankison of a second count accusing him of violating Taylor’s neighbor’s civil rights.

Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by police in March 13, 2020raid, but not by Hankison and was not charged in her death.

Hankison, 48, fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment, but none hit anyone. Some of his photos also flew into a neighboring apartment.

Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, said she was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to believe when the verdict was read.

“I am grateful. I’m grateful to God,” Palmer told reporters Friday night. She thanked the jurors, who she said took their time to understand the case.

Hankison was being retried by the Justice Department after a first jury deadlocked on both counts, which ends in a void trialin November 2023.

In 2020, police were at Taylor’s apartment looking for evidence in a narcotics investigation involving her ex-boyfriend, who was living at a different address at the time.

Taylor’s boyfriend fired a single shot at the front door because he thought intruders were breaking in, U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland said.

Two officers “immediately fired a total of 22 shots into the apartment,” one of which struck Taylor in the chest and killed her, he said.

Hankison testified that he had to act quickly because he believed his fellow officers were being executed. Prosecutors accused him of firing blind.

In the current trial, which lasted about two weeks, the jury found Hankison not guilty of violating the neighbor’s rights and then returned to deliberate on the charge regarding Taylor herself.

The jury later returned with a guilty verdict on the Taylor count, WAVE reported around 9:30 p.m. Some members of the jury wept when the verdict was read. the Associated Press reported.

The charge Hankison was convicted of carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Taylor’s killing sparked outrage across the country. President Joe Biden called her death a tragedy and said the country needed significant police reforms.

In response to the raid, the Louisville City Council “Breonna’s Law” passed in 2020, which prohibits anti-knock warrants by the police.

Hankison faced three lawsuits in two years.

Hankison and three other officers or former officers were federally indicted in 2022although of the group only Hankison had been present during the raid.

Joshua Jaynes, Kyle Meany and Kelly Goodlett were accused of applying for a search warrant at Taylor’s home even though they knew police did not have probable cause to search it.

Goodlett, a former Louisville police detective, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in August 2022. She admitted to conspiring with Jaynes to falsify an affidavit for the Taylor warrant and cover it up by lying to investigators.

Sentencing is set for April 29, court records show.

Jaynes and Meany still face charges of deprivation of rights under color of law.

Jaynes was also charged with conspiracy and falsifying records in a federal investigation. Meany was also charged with making false statements to federal investigators. Both pleaded not guilty.

They were indicted Oct. 1 after a federal judge in August rejection of penalties in their previous indictment.

No one has been directly charged in Taylor’s death. A state grand jury declined to press charges the officer who fired the fatal shot.

Hankinson was charged with three counts of criminal endangerment for the shootings that broke into the neighbors’ apartment. He was paid in 2022.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.