The FBI has arrested and charged the former Louisville Metro Police detective who was terminated for lying on Breonna Taylor’s search warrant. The deadly raid occurred in March 2020 and led to a series of protests calling for justice.
Joshua Jaynes was taken into custody on Thursday (Aug. 4), according to his attorney Thomas Clay. Jaynes, Kelly Goodlett, and Kyle Meany were charged with violating Taylor’s civil rights by submitting a false affidavit to search Taylor’s home. Additionally, they conspired to create a “false cover story in an attempt to escape responsibility for their roles in preparing the warrant affidavit that contained false information.” Jaynes, Goodlett, and Meany were all involved in securing the warrant.
US Attorney Merrick Garland LMPD’s Place Based Investigations Unit says the false warrant led to Taylor’s demise. Garland also confirmed the officers falsified an investigative document after the raid and met in a garage to plan their lie to investigators. Meanwhile, Brett Hankison — one of the three officers who fired shots during the incident — was indicted on two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law. Hankison faced three charges of felony wanton endangerment but was acquitted in March 2022.
The 26-year-old was at home with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when they heard knocking at the door in the middle of the night. Once the plainclothes detectives arrived in the hallways, they broke down her door. Walker, who believed the officers were intruders, fired a shot once the door came down. Gunfire rang off, and Taylor was struck multiple times. Walker was charged in the shooting but the charges were later dropped. Walker’s attorney Steven Romines told CNN, there are “deep-seeded failures within the Louisville Metro Police Department,” and added they never issued an apology. Romines continued, “Kenneth looks forward to continuing his fight to hold wrongdoers accountable for the harm they caused to Breonna and Kenneth and for acts by the police that divided our Louisville community.”