Louisville Reaches Enormous Settlement with Family of Breonna Taylor

One of the most prominent cases to prompt our current nationwide unrest came to us from Louisville, Kentucky, where a no-knock warrant ended in the death of a sleeping woman.

Police in the southern city were responsible for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor after forcibly entering the home where she was sleeping, causing her boyfriend to open fire, believing that the home was being broken into.  Taylor was asleep at the time of her death, and her case continues to be a sticking point for Black Lives Matter protesters on account of the fact that the officers involved in her death have not been arrested.

This week, the City of Louisville reached a sizable settlement with the Taylor family.

The city of Louisville will pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and reform police practices as part of a lawsuit settlement months after Taylor’s slaying by police thrust the Black woman’s name to the forefront of a national reckoning on race, Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday.

Taylor’s death sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls nationwide for the officers to be criminally charged. The state’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron, is investigating police actions in the March 13 fatal shooting.

“I cannot begin to imagine Ms. Palmer’s pain, and I am deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death,” Fischer said, referring to Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.

At Tuesday’s news conference, an emotional Palmer pushed for charges against the officers involved in the shooting.

“We must not lose focus on what the real job is, and with that being said, it’s time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more,” Palmer said.

The settlement does not put an end to the issue, however, as criminal charges are still very much a possibility in the case.