One of the former police officers involved in the police raid that killed Breonna Taylor in March 2020 is set to face a retrial, according to NBC News.
The news of the retrial came after a judge declared that Brett Hankison’s federal case was a mistrial after a deadlocked jury last month, as HuffPost previously reported. Hankison was one of four officers involved in the killing of the 26-year-old, which catapulted the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
Four Louisville officers, including Hankison, were enacting a “no-knock” search warrant at the young medical worker’s home looking for evidence against her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. Her then-boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot under the impression that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend or another intruder was breaking in.
The officers then fired multiple shots, striking Taylor five times. Hankison fired 10 bullets aimed at the covered windows of Taylor’s home, some of which entered her neighbor’s home. He did not strike the aspiring nurse, her boyfriend who was in the home, or any neighbors.
In March 2022, he was found not guilty of state charges that accused him of wanton endangerment for shooting bullets without knowing where they were going. The Justice Department later brought federal charges against him, as well as the other officers involved, in August 2022, but the jury reached a deadlock last month. Federal prosecutors said Hankison violated the Constitution and used excessive force.
“Today’s indictment alleges that Hankison’s use of excessive force violated the rights of Breonna Taylor and her guest, and also of her neighbors, whose lives were endangered by bullets that penetrated into their apartment,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in the federal indictment against Hankison.
The Louisville Police Department fired Hankison after Taylor’s killing. Later that year, Hankison was also accused of sexually assaulting a woman.
While Hankison’s colleague, Myles Cosgrove, shot the bullets that killed Taylor, Cosgrove was never convicted in the aftermath of her killing.
The trial is set to begin on Oct. 14, 2024, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Taylor’s killing added momentum to calls from advocates for police accountability. It became a pillar during the 2020 period of unrest when there were back-to-back nationwide protests against police brutality.