The Louisville Metro Police Department fired two detectives connected to the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, according to copies of the officers’ termination letters.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in her apartment during a flawed forced-entry raid in the early hours of March 13, 2020.
Detective Myles Cosgrove was fired Tuesday for use of deadly force for firing 16 rounds into Taylor’s home and failing to activate his body camera, according to a copy of his termination letter.
Detective Joshua Jaynes, who had written the search warrant for the raid on Taylor’s home, was fired Tuesday for “failing to complete a Search Warrant Operations Plan form” and being untruthful about verifying that Taylor’s previous boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, had been receiving packages at Taylor’s home, according to a copy of his termination letter obtained by CNN.
The detectives had received pre-termination letters last week, according to the attorneys for the men.
Cosgrove and Jaynes can appeal the dismissals, which would prompt a review by the LMPD Merit Board and could ultimately lead to a public hearing.
The decision was made by interim Police Chief Yvette Gentry. The full-time police chief position will be filled by former Atlanta police Chief Erika Shields in two weeks, Mayor Greg Fischer said Wednesday.
The Louisville police union called the firings “unjustified.”
“There is certainly no evidence in this case that policies and procedures of the LMPD were violated to the extent that warranted termination,” the River City Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement. “Interim Chief Gentry not only made the wrong decision, but also sent an ominous message to every sworn officer of the Louisville Metro Police Department.”
Jaynes’ attorney, Thomas Clay, says his client’s termination from the LMPD was “not unexpected.”
“We fully expected this termination to happen and we will pursue an appeal to the Louisville Metro police board,” Clay told CNN. “It’s our position that he did nothing wrong in any of the activities relating to this search.”
Clay also said his client is “devastated at the way he’s been treated by the department.”
CNN has reached out Cosgrove’s attorney.
No charges directly connected to her death
Taylor’s death, along with that of other Black people at the hands of law enforcement, sparked a summer of protests calling for police reform.
No officer who took part in the raid was charged for Taylor’s actual killing. Only one of the three officers – Brett Hankison – was charged in connection with the shooting. In September, a grand jury charged Hankison with three counts of felony wanton endangerment for blindly firing 10 shots into Taylor’s home. He pleaded not guilty.
LMPD fired Hankison in June 2020.
As a result of the grand jury’s decision, Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, asked the Kentucky Prosecutors Advisory Council to appoint an independent prosecutor to present the case of her daughter’s death before a new grand jury. She said Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s handling of the case “undermines the trust and integrity of the entire process.”
Cameron has said Cosgrove fired the fatal shot – which he said was justified because Taylor’s boyfriend fired at officers first.
“At minimum, my daughter deserves, as do all aggrieved victims, a competent and capable prosecution team which is committed to properly investigating the case, evaluating the law from an unbiased lens, presenting the evidence and allowing the grand jurors to perform the functions guaranteed to them under the law,” Palmer wrote in her request for relief.
The advisory council declined to appoint a special prosecutor in December, saying they did not have the legal authority to do so, according to a report by CNN affiliate WDRB.
CNN’s Mark Morales and Rob Frehse contributed to this report.
