The Louisville Metro Council voted to end the use of no-knock warrants, in wake of the murder of Breonna Taylor. The measure sponsored by council members Jessica Green and Barbara Sexton-Smith passed by unanimous vote on Thursday (June 11).
According to the ordinance, “No Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) police officer, Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) officer, or any other Metro law enforcement or public safety official shall seek, execute, or participate in the execution of a no-knock warrant at any location within the boundaries of Jefferson County.”
LMPD officers killed Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, in the early morning hours of March 13. Authorities claimed that they were executing a no-knock warrant at Taylor’s apartment in accordance with an alleged narcotics investigation that had nothing to do with her. The suspect at the center of the warrant was already in custody, and Taylor was sleeping in bed when police kicked in her door and shot her to death. Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend and a licensed gun owner, assumed the residence was being burglarized and shot back (still unaware that they were cops). Walker was arrested on assault charges that were later dropped. The officers involved, Sgt. Jon Mattingly, 47, Myles Cosgrove, 42, and Brett Hankison, 44, have yet to be arrested or charged for killing Taylor.
The LPD recently released an incident report from Taylor’s murder that was almost completely blank. In an emotional interview with The Breakfast Club, Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, detailed rushing over to her daughter’s apartment after hearing that she had been shot. Police told Palmer that her daughter had been hospitalized, but when she went to the hospital, but Taylor wasn’t there.
Palmer returned to the crime scene and was made to wait for another two hours before a detective spoke with her. Instead of providing answers, police questioned if Palmer “knew of anybody who would want to hurt Breonna or Kenny,” or if the couple were having any relationship issues.
After giving her the runaround and making her wait for another two hours, the detective admitted to Palmer that her daughter’s body was still inside of the apartment. “It was probably about 11 a.m. when he comes back over,” Palmer recalled. “He tells us it’ll be a little bit longer and they’ll be wrapping up and that we’ll be able to get into the house and I say ‘Why won’t you tell me where Breonna is? And he says, ‘She’s still in the apartment.”
Watch the full interview below.