One of the officers involved in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor‘s home, Sergeant Kyle Meany, has been fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Louisville Police Chief Erika Shields announced on Friday (Aug. 19) that she made the decision to terminate Meany after “careful consideration and not with ease.”
“I fully respect the judicial process and realize Sergeant Meany has yet to be heard before a jury of his peers. That being said, he is facing multiple federal charges after a lengthy investigation by the DOJ,” Shields said in a statement. “As an employer, the character of our organization is paramount and it is not reasonable to expect continued employment under such conditions,” her statement continued.
On March 13, 2020, Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, was shot and killed in her apartment when police officers stormed in as she was asleep with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker. The officers fired 22 shots into the apartment, one of which struck Taylor in the chest.
Meany is one of the four Louisville police officers who were federally charged on Aug. 4 by the US Department of Justice. Former Detective Brett Hankison, former Detective Joshua Jaynes, Detective Kelly Goodlett, along with Meany face various civil rights violations, including unlawful conspiracy, use of force and obstruction of justice.
According to court documents, Goodlett and Jaynes included false and misleading information in an application for the search warrant. Meany, who was their supervisor, approved the warrant application although it was false. He is also accused of lying to investigators about the officers’ unannounced entry into the apartment. In March, Hankison was acquitted by a Kentucky jury on a separate indictment in which he was charged with two counts of deprivation of rights for firing 10 rounds through the window and glass door in Taylor’s apartment.