LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Five months after her daughter was shot to death by police, Breonna Taylor’s mother said she is trying to be patient while waiting to hear if the officers will be charged. But it’s hard, she said, when every day feels like the day her daughter died.
Tamika Palmer appeared with civil rights attorney Ben Crump on the steps of Louisville City Hall on Thursday, a day after meeting with Kentucky’s attorney general.
Palmer said “every day is still March 13,” the day police, carrying a warrant, burst into Taylor’s home and shot her.
Palmer has hoped for months for charges against the officers who were there, but also said her daughter’s case should be an example for police reform around the country.
“There definitely shouldn’t be another Breonna Taylor, anywhere,” she said. “At this point it’s bigger than Breonna, it’s bigger that just Black lives. It’s about bridging the gaps between us and the police.”
Palmer and other family members met Wednesday morning with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is in charge of the investigation into police officers’ actions the night Taylor was killed. The FBI is also investigating the shooting.
Palmer said Cameron told her he doesn’t want to rush the investigation because “he wants to have the right answer.”
“For me, I’m trying to accept that and be patient with that,” she said.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was slain by Louisville police serving a “no knock” narcotics search warrant at her apartment. They found no drugs in her home. An officer was shot during the raid by Taylor’s boyfriend, who has said he thought he was defending against a home invasion. The boyfriend was initially charged but those charges were later dropped.
Crump, one of the attorneys representing Palmer in a lawsuit she filed against three Louisville police officers, said he hopes Cameron has a decision “sooner rather than later.”
Cameron gave no timeline on Wednesday in a news release about his meeting with Palmer, and said the investigation is ongoing. The attorney general has said he is waiting on ballistics evidence from the FBI.
“I absolutely expect there to be charges (against police officers) based on the evidence,” Crump said. “We believe that the people who caused her death should be held accountable. Whether that’s two or four (officers), somebody needs to be held accountable.”