LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Washington Insider Magazine) – After being accused of harming a couple and their 5-year-old kid the night police searched Breonna Taylor’s residence, ex Louisville, Kentucky, policeman Brett Hankison was ruled not guilty on all charges on Thursday.
After over 2 weeks of testimony in court, the jury made a decision after just over 3 hours of deliberation.
Hankison, a former Louisville Metro Police Department officer, was charged with threatening Cody Etherton, his partner, Chelsey Napper, with their 5-year-old kid on March 13, 2020, when he fired rounds into their residence. According to NBC NEWS, officials were at the building to raid an adjacent unit belonging to Breonna Taylor in conjunction with a drugs investigation.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot and murdered by police after her boyfriend claimed he fired a shot in fear of a house invasion.
In June 2020, Hankison was sacked. For the gunshots that went all the way into Napper and Etherton’s apartment, a grand jury convicted him on 3 charges of first-degree wanton endangerment.
He was the sole officer accused in the raid, and no accusations were brought in connection with Taylor’s murder.
On the night of the search, Etherton, 29, claimed that officers were “unorganized” and “reckless.” As bullets came into his apartment, smashing his glass doors, “debris started going past my head and face.”
After gunshots perforated a wall she shared with Taylor, Napper, who was pregnant at the point, claimed she contacted 911 twice.
In his testimony in court on Wednesday, Hankison seemed to become emotional as he recalled the events that led up to that when he pulled the trigger.
After cops knocked through Taylor’s front door, the ex-officer said he saw a “muzzle flash” nearly immediately. He assumed the flare was caused by someone shooting a gun from inside the flat.
He testified saying he thought his colleagues would be killed.
That night, Hankison discharged a total of ten rounds. He claimed the gunshots lasted approximately five to ten seconds.
At the site, no rifle was discovered. Only a Glock handgun was found inside Taylor’s residence, according to Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley’s opening comments.
Hankison was questioned about how he felt about gunshots shooting into Napper and Etherton’s flat during his testimony.
“Absolutely not,” he said when asked if he believed he had done anything wrong.
Taylor’s lover, Kenneth Walker, is represented by Frederick Moore, who claims that neither of the victims, even his client, and Taylor, received justice. He chastised Attorney General Daniel Cameron for spinning a story that he feels influenced the trial’s result.
