FILE-A protestor displays a portrait of Breonna Taylor during a rally in remembrance on the one-year anniversary of her death in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, 2021. (Photo by JEFF DEAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Justice Department is seeking a one-day sentence for a former police officer found guilty of violating the rights of Breonna Taylor when she was killed by police in 2020 during a raid at her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
Brett Hankison is facing several years in prison when he is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21 and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. In November 2024, a jury acquitted him of violating the civil rights of Taylor's neighbors but guilty of violating Taylor's civil rights, WDRB-TV in Louisville reported.
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Breonna Taylor raid: Ex-officer cleared in shooting
A Kentucky jury cleared former police officer Brett Hankison of charges that he endangered neighbors when he fired shots into an apartment during the 2020 drug raid that ended with Breonna Taylor’s death. Hankison had been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through sliding-glass side doors and a window of Taylor's apartment during the raid that left the 26-year-old woman dead.
RELATED: Breonna Taylor's boyfriend blamed for death, some charges against ex-officers dismissed
Hankison was charged by federal prosecutors in 2022 with endangering the lives of Taylor, Walker, and some of her neighbors when he fired into Taylor's windows. Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial in 2023, but Hankison was retried on those charges in October 2024.
Why is the DOJ seeking a one-day sentence for ex-officer Brett Hankison?
Why you should care:
Justice Department officials are requesting Brett Hankison avoid prison time and instead be placed on supervised release.
In a sentencing memo obtained by USA Today, the DOJ stated that the agency is "unaware of another prosecution in which a police officer has been charged with depriving the rights of another person under the Fourth Amendment for returning fire and not injuring anyone."
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Judge: Breonna Taylor's death caused by boyfriend
A federal judge has thrown out major felony charges against two former Louisville officers accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Breonna Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her. LiveNOW from FOX host Josh Breslow spoke to criminal defense attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal to explain the ruling.
The memo also noted that former President Joe Biden's administration should not have prosecuted Hankison on civil rights charges.
RELATED: Breonna Taylor's boyfriend blamed for death, some charges against ex-officers dismissed
Hankison was the only officer who fired his gun the night of the Breonna Taylor raid to be criminally charged. Prosecutors determined that two other officers were justified in returning fire after one was shot in the leg.
Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend, shot one of the officers in the leg because Walker later said he believed the police officers were intruders.
Who was Breonna Taylor?
The backstory:
Breonna Taylor was an emergency medical technician who lived with her sister in an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 26-year-old and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were about to watch a movie in her bedroom on the night of March 13, 2020, when police came to her door with a narcotics warrant that was one of five issued that night in a wide-ranging sting.
Taylor was fatally shot minutes later. Her death spurred months of protests in Louisville, and celebrities including LeBron James, Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey called on authorities to criminally charge the police officers who participated in the raid.
Taylor’s case became a staple of the Black Lives Matter movement and nationwide protests in 2020 condemning police violence.
The Associated Press reported that Taylor’s case brought heavy scrutiny on "no-knock" warrants, which were later banned in the city of Louisville. These warrants let police officers enter a home without warning, but in the Taylor raid officers said they knocked and announced their presence at the home. The Louisville police chief at the time was fired because officers did not use body cameras the night of the raid.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting, WDRB-TV in Louisville, USA Today, and the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.