Louisville reaches $2 million settlement with Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor's boyfriend
Louisville Metro settled with Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, for $2 million on Monday, according to one of the parties who had been sued more than two years ago.
Former Louisville Metro Police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the thigh by Walker as police burst through the door the night of the raid at Taylor's apartment, confirmed the settlement to The Courier Journal and said he and the other individual officers named in two civil lawsuits were released from having to pay.
Frederick Moore, an attorney representing Walker, said he couldn't confirm the settlement or comment on the specifics of Monday's federal court mediation until "details have been finalized." City officials haven't yet responded to The Courier Journal's request for more information.
Joey Klausing, an attorney representing former LMPD Detective Kelly Goodlett, said his client was released from the lawsuit Monday with no payment requirement. Goodlett in August pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge for her role in falsifying information used to obtain the search warrant on Taylor's apartment.
Walker and Taylor, a 26-year-old unarmed Black woman, were asleep in her South End apartment on March 13, 2020 when LMPD officers attempted to serve a search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation. Walker, who has said he thought an intruder was breaking in, fired a single shot that hit Mattingly. Taylor was shot to death when police returned fire.
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In September 2020, Walker filed civil lawsuits in both state and federal court seeking punitive and compensatory damages against the city and several officers involved with the raid. It's not yet clear if the settlement also satisfies the lawsuit filed in state court.
Walker's claims assert his rights were violated when officers obtained and approved the "materially false" search warrant, failed to announce before they entered Taylor's apartment and used excessive and unreasonable force. He also claims LMPD's policies, customs and practices led to these violations.
Walker was charged with assault and attempted murder of a police officer in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, but those charges were dismissed permanently in March 2021.
Walker's civil suits named Goodlett, former detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany for their purported role in falsifying and covering up the bad information used to obtain the warrant. All three were charged with federal civil rights violations in August.
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Goodlett resigned from LMPD following the indictment. She admitted in her plea to falsely claiming a Shively postal inspector verified Taylor was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Jamarcus Glover, at her apartment before the raid. Glover was the subject of the narcotics investigation that resulted in Taylor's death. Goodlett told investigators she met with Jaynes in his garage so they could "get on the same page" after a postal inspector said the claim was bogus, and Meany allegedly had knowledge of the false claim.
Also named in Walker's lawsuits are former officers Myles Cosgrove, who shot at Taylor 16 times and was fired by LMPD for failing to identify a target, Brett Hankison, whose return gunfire went into Taylor's neighbor's apartments, and Mattingly, who also returned fire at Walker. Hankison also faces federal charges for violating the civil rights of Taylor, Walker and three of Taylor's neighbors.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor case: Kenneth Walker, Louisville reach $2M settlement
