LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville police have fired two detectives, one who shot Breonna Taylor and another who sought the warrant that led to the deadly raid.
Det. Myles Cosgrove and Det. Joshua Jaynes were fired Tuesday after receiving notification last week from the department’s interim chief that they would be dismissed. A letter informing them of their dismissal was released Wednesday.
Taylor, a Black woman, was killed March 13 by police executing a narcotics search warrant. None of the three white officers who fired into Taylor’s home were charged by a grand jury in her death. Cosgrove and two other officers who fired into Taylor’s apartment were not charged in her death by a grand jury in September.
Investigators said Cosgrove fired 16 rounds into the apartment after the front door was breached and Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot at them. Federal ballistics experts said they believe the shot that killed Taylor came from Cosgrove.
Gentry wrote that Cosgrove failed to “properly identify a target” when he fired, according to media reports of the letter, which has not been released.
Jaynes was not at the scene the night of the shooting but sought the warrant that sent police to Taylor’s home. Gentry said Jaynes lied about how he obtained some information about Taylor in the warrant.
An internal investigation by Louisville police found Jaynes violated department procedures for preparation of a search warrant and truthfulness. Jaynes acknowledged in a May interview with Louisville police investigators that he didn’t personally verify that a drug trafficking suspect, Jamarcus Glover, was receiving mail at Taylor’s apartment, even though he had said in an earlier affidavit that he had. Jaynes said he relied instead on information from a fellow officer.
Jaynes and Cosgrove have been on administrative reassignment, along with another officer who was at the raid, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. Mattingly was shot in the leg by Taylor’s boyfriend, who said he thought an intruder was breaking into the home.
Another officer, Brett Hankison, was fired in June by then-interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder, who said Hankison “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 rounds of gunfire into Taylor’s apartment. His termination letter said Hankison violated the rule against using deadly force.
Mattingly said in October that he intended to retire from the department.
In September, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who took on the role of special prosecutor in the case, announced that a grand jury had indicted Hankison on wanton endangerment charges, saying he fired gunshots into a neighboring home during the raid. No one in the home was hit. Hankison has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Cosgrove and Mattingly were not charged with Taylor’s killing because they acted to protect themselves, Cameron said. The decision disappointed and angered those who have been calling for justice for Taylor for six months, and protesters vowed to stay in the streets until all the officers involved were fired or someone was charged with her killing.
Three grand jurors, speaking anonymously, have since come forward to say that Cameron did not allow the grand jury to consider homicide related charges against the officers for Taylor’s death. The three grand jurors said they believe they would have brought criminal charges against the officers if given the chance.
For months, Taylor’s name has been a rallying cry for activists protesting the extrajudicial killing of Black men and women. Famed musicians, actors, athletes and politicians had called for the officers’ arrests.
