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Breonna Taylor‘s name will live on forever although for an unfortunate reason. The 26-year-old Kentucky healthcare worker was gunned down by former Louisville Metro Police Department officers who were serving a warrant at the wrong address. Their ineptitude cost a young Black woman her life.
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One of the officers involved in the shooting that night was Brett Hankison, according to a report in the Courier-Journal, he fired 10 rounds that all went through a sliding glass door in Taylor’s apartment. While Hankison was found not guilty of the state’s charges of wanton endangerment back in March 2022, he was still facing charges of federal civil rights violations. To the dismay of Breonna’s family, their lawyers and the community at large, justice in this case will not be won expeditiously.
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The Courier-Journal reports that Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled a mistrial in Hankison’s case after a jury remained deadlocked after three full days of deliberation. At this time, prosecutors have not decided whether or not to retry Hankison, but Judge Jennings has set a Dec. 13 meeting to discuss the status of the case. The Taylor’s family attorney Lonita Baker didn’t bite her tongue about what she feels was a major contributing factor to the hung jury…
“The Western District is made up of more than just Louisville, and we recognize that, but hopefully on the next trial, the jury does reflect the diversity of this city and the Western District of Kentucky,” Baker said.
The jury in this case consisted of five white men, six white women, and ONE, solitary Black man.
Hopefully, there will be a retrial and justice can finally be served. It’s nearly impossible to legislate the hearts of human beings, and at this point, we don’t expect police officers to do right, but at the very least they need to feel the consequences of their actions.
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