According to NBC News, police Lt. Ted Eidem claimed officers knocked on the door several times and “announced their presence as police who were there with a search warrant”; however, Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, alleged in a lawsuit that police did not knock or identify themselves before forcing entry.
Per the lawsuit, Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believed their apartment was being broken into. According to NBC News, Walker, who was licensed to carry, fired his gun and shot an officer in the leg. The lawsuit accused the officers of then “blindly firing.” The police, per CBS News, claimed they fired after Walker shot first.
The Louisville Metro Police Department announced one of the police officers, Brett Hankison, was fired in June. According to The New York Times, the other officers involved in the case, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, have been placed on administrative reassignment. None of the police officers have been arrested or face criminal charges. In a recent statement to ABC News, the office of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron confirmed the investigation into Taylor’s death remains ongoing.
“What’s the excuse? Why is the cop not in jail? Wasn’t what he did a crime? It’s a crime!” Cardi told the magazine. “And no apology. No apology. No video of the cop coming out crying, ‘I f–ked up. I don’t this. I don’t that.’ Nothing. It’s nothing. I don’t even know how her mom still holds her head up. Unbelievable.”