Breonna Taylor: 2 More Louisville Police Officers to Be Fired Following Fatal Raid

It has been reported that two more Louisville police officers are being fired following the fatal [...]

By Stephen Andrew

It has been reported that two more Louisville police officers are being fired following the fatal botched raid that resulted in the murder of Breonna Taylor. According to WFPL, detectives Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes have been served pre-termination letters, stemming from their involvement with the raid. In March, officers were serving a warrant — which had been obtained by Jaynes — and opened fire into Taylor's apartment when her boyfriend opened fire, believing the men to be intruders.

"We intend to show up to the pre-termination hearing on Dec. 31 and we're going to contest this action, although I'm not optimistic about Interim Chief [Yvette] Gentry changing her decision," said Thomas Clay, the attorney representing Jaynes. "If she doesn't, we're going to pursue every legal remedy to overturn this decision." An investigation into the incident determined that the officers were actually seeking Taylor's ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, on narcotics charges. However, when Jaynes submitted for the warrant, he stated that he was doing so on the confirmation from the postmaster that Taylor had been receiving packages for Taylor. This information was not accurate, as he eventually admitted that the postmaster never confirmed this. Jaynes referred to this as an "honest mistake" in court filings.

Cosgrove was one of the officers who served the warrant at Taylor's residence, along with Brett Hankison and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. All three returned fire after Taylor's boyfriend sent a warning shot that struck Mattingly. It was Cosgrove and Mattingly's bullets that struck Taylor, killing her.

Initially, it was only Hankison who was fired. "Unfortunately, due to a provision in state law that I very much would like to see changed, both the Chief and I are precluded from talking about what brought us to this moment, or even the timing of this decision," Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Rob Schroeder said in a statement in June, commenting on the timeliness of the outcome. Hankison's termination letter was shared with local news outlets and stated that he violated procedure when he opened fire at Taylor's apartment.

"I have determined you violated Standard Operating Procedure," the letter stated. It later added, "When your actions displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life when you wantonly and blindly fired ten rounds into the apartment of Breonna Taylor." At this time, an attorney for Cosgrove has not issued a comment on the new firings.

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