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The lawyer representing the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police when officers executed a “no-knock” warrant on her apartment in March, said Tuesday that he does not believe his client, Kenneth Walker, fired the shot that injured one officer during the incident. Walker, 28, is suing the city of Louisville as well …
The lawyer representing the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police when officers executed a “no-knock” warrant on her apartment in March, said Tuesday that he does not believe his client, Kenneth Walker, fired the shot that injured one officer during the incident.
Walker, 28, is suing the city of Louisville as well as Louisville Metro Police for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process and negligence.
“We know police are firing wildly from various angles,” Walker’s attorney Steve Romines told the Louisville Courier Journal. “The timeline and evidence at the scene is more indicative of [police] actually shooting Mattingly than it is Kenny Walker.”
Officers claimed they announced themselves when they entered Taylor’s apartment searching for illegal drugs and said they were “immediately met by gunfire” from Walker. A wrongful death lawsuit levied by Taylor’s family said that Walker, a registered gun owner, thought an intruder was breaking into the apartment. Walker fired what he called a “warning” shot with his gun, for which he has a Kentucky conceal-carry permit. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the femoral artery as police exchanged gunfire with Walker.
Louisville has since banned no-knock warrants, the type that was issued for Taylor’s residence. The warrant was issued because police suspected that a man connected to a drug ring was receiving packages containing drugs at Taylor’s apartment.
“Kenny continues to reel from the death of the love of his life, but he is also the victim and survivor of police misconduct — misconduct that threatens his freedom to this day,” states Walker’s civil lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Jefferson County District Court.
The conduct of the officers is being investigated by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the FBI.
Taylor’s name became known nationally during the protests against police brutality and racism that erupted after the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
