Former Police Officer To Testify In His Own Trial For His Involvement In Breonna Taylor Shooting
Former Louisville, Kentucky police officer Brett Hankison, the only officer charged for the raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death, will testify in his own trial.
According to WLKY, attorneys for Hankison filed a motion this week for him to testify in the February trial. He is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment and pleaded not guilty but no one was charged for Taylor’s death
An internal investigation conducted by the Louisville Metro Police Department determined that the three officers involved, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, should not have fired shots into her apartment in the fatal botched raid.
In documents obtained by ABC News, the department’s Professional Standards Unit determined that the three officers should have held their fire after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot, believing intruders had broken into their home.
According to an FBI ballistics report, Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Taylor while Hankison, standing outside of the apartment door, fired ten rounds into the apartment through a patio door with drawn blinds.
It was found that Hankison fired three shots into a wall that connected to the adjacent apartment, which resulted in the wanton endangerment charge.
Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove will also testify at Hankinson’s trial.
In September of 2020, Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron announced that a grand jury declined to indict any officer in Taylor’s death.
Hankison’s trial is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2022.
