Four current and former Louisville officers are facing federal charges in connection with the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor — including excessive force, falsifying information on the search warrant that led to the killingand staging a coverup, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday.
Kelly Goodlett, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany are accused of falsifying information on a search warrant before and after Taylor, 26, was killed in March 2020, sparking a wave of racial justice protests across the country. Brett Hankison is charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
Hankinson and Jaynes were fired from the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department earlier, after being accused of wrongdoing related to Taylor’s death, though Jaynes is suing to get his job back. A Louisville police spokesperson said in a statement that Chief Erika Shields “began termination procedures” for Meany and Goodlett on Thursday.
The counts announced Thursday are the first federal charges brought against any of the officers stemming from the raid.
