Breonna Taylor's family and Louisville reportedly reach multimillion dollar wrongful death settlement
The city of Louisville, Kentucky, is expected to announce a wrongful death settlement on Tuesday in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
Police shot and killed Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, as they executed a no-knock warrant to the wrong house, sparking protests that demanded her killers be arrested. That hasn't happened, but Louisville is reportedly expected to grant Taylor's family the largest police misconduct settlement in its history — and police reforms are also part of the package.
It's unclear just how much the city will pay Taylor's family, "but it is expected to dwarf the biggest payout previously made by police," the Courier Journal writes. The previous largest settlement paid out $8.5 million to Edwin Chandler, who was wrongfully imprisoned for nine years. One of Taylor's attorneys confirmed to CBS affiliate WLKY the settlement would be announced soon.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition to the payout, the settlement will require police commanders to approve all search warrants before they go to a judge, the Courier Journal reports. It will also reportedly move to provide housing credits to Louisville police officers who agree to live in the city instead of its suburbs, and allow for drug and alcohol testing of officers involved in any shooting.
Taylor was killed March 13, but the police killing of George Floyd and mass protests that followed in late May brought her story national attention. Police were supposed to be executing a warrant for someone located 10 miles away, and when they broke down the door of Taylor's boyfriend's home, he fired a shot that hit an officer in the leg. Police fired back, hitting Taylor five times. Taylor's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in April alleging the police were grossly negligent.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 – 30 JanuaryQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is China clearing out its generals?Podcast Plus, can the Conservatives win back the centre? And what’s gone wrong with Britain’s hearing aids?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A Viking festival, an inky fingerprint, and more
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
