Tamika Palmer, the mother of the late Breonna Taylor, did not have many words to say following the grand jury’s decision to only charge one officer for the events that took place the night her daughter was fatally shot.
Palmer took to Instagram on Thursday (Sep. 24) to share a beautiful image of her daughter that someone drew. “It’s still Breonna Taylor for me,” she captioned the post, along with a red broken heart emoji and two blue heart emojis. She then wrote the hashtag, “#ThesystemfailedBreonna.”
On Wednesday (Sep. 23), Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced that only one of three officers would be charged in the investigation of Taylor’s death. Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison was hit with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree — for “blindly” shooting into multiple nearby apartments.
The other two officers who were involved in the deadly shooting — Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove — were not charged at all. “The death of Breonna Taylor is a tragedy,” Todd McMurty, Mattingly’s attorney, said in a statement. “But these officers did not act in a reckless or unprofessional manner. They did their duty, performed their roles as law enforcement officers and, above all, did not break the law.”
After the indictment, Hankison was booked and released from the Shelby County Detention Center. Attorney Stew Matthews told WXIX in Cincinnati that Hankison will plead not guilty to his charges during his arraignment. “I don’t think the evidence will support the charge,” Matthews told the outlet.
Following Cameron’s announcement, Ju’Niyah Palmer, Taylor’s younger sister, penned an emotional message to her sister on her Instagram account.
She shared a throwback picture of herself and Taylor together following her graduation. She captioned the photo, “Sister I am so sorry.” Palmer also posted about the attorney general’s decision in her Instagram story. “Sister, you was failed by a system you worked hard for and I am so sorry,” she wrote. “I love you so so so so so much.”
Check out Palmer’s post below.