Will Kenneth Walker sue Louisville and PD again? Charges against Breonna Taylor's boyfriend permanently dropped
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: The Breonna Taylor case had an update on Monday, March 8, after a Kentucky judge dismissed all charges against Kenneth Walker III, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed by the police when a "no-knock" search warrant was executed at her Louisville home on March 13, 2020. Walker was accused of shooting a cop during the ill-fated raid.
Reports said Walker fired a shot at the officers after thinking they were intruders. The officers retorted with gunfire killing 26-year-old Taylor in the process. Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens dismissed the charges "with prejudice", according to CNN. This essentially means he cannot be charged with the same offenses related to the shooting.
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Will Kenneth Walker sue again?
Although there is no concrete answer that he may, social media users have felt that he must be compensated for the amount of torture he endured. "Why were there charges against Kenneth Walker IN THE FIRST PLACE??? Police *broke into his home* and (subsequently) killed his girlfriend! This has to be one of the ultimate grounds for self-defence... HE should sue them!" read one of the tweets. Whether this would still mean justice for Taylor was still a question.
Why were there charges against Kenneth Walker IN THE FIRST PLACE???
β Farah Ghuznavi π (@FarahGhuznavi) March 8, 2021
Police *broke into his home* and (subsequently) killed his girlfriend! This has to be one of the ultimate grounds for self-defence...
HE should sue them! π #SayHerName#BreonnaTaylor #racism #PoliceBrutality
Does this count as justice for Breonna Taylor since he kind of caused her death? Just asking for a friend.
β phase10 (@phase106) March 8, 2021
Walker sued the city and the police department in September last year and alleged he was a victim of police misconduct. According to the Courier-Journal, he still faces a civil counterclaim filed by Sgt Jonathan Mattingly, the cop he shot. Walker's attorney Steve Romines said in a statement he was relieved the case is closed.
"We believe the city used Kenneth as a pawn to cover up the events that took place on March 13, 2020, and further used him to cover up the deep-seated failures within the Louisville Metro Police Department," Romines said in the statement. "β¦It does not go unnoticed that neither the city nor the LMPD has apologized for using Kenneth as a scapegoat for an improper raid gone bad."
For firing a bullet, Walker was charged with the attempted murder of a police officer and assault. However, the charges were later dismissed after the death of Taylor garnered national attention. The 28-year-old and the attorneys representing him said that because of the involvement of professional athletes, celebrities, and politicians, he was freed from the charges.
However, none of the officers who were part of the raid were charged for Taylor's actual killing. CNN said, only Brett Hankison, one of the officers was charged with the shooting. He was charged by the grand jury last September for three counts of felony wanton endangerment for blindly firing ten shots into Taylor's house. Earlier this January, the Louisville Police Department fired two other officers, Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes β who were involved in the shooting.