Ex-officer pleads guilty in Breonna Taylor case
This undated photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar shows Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky. The U.S. Justice Department has charged four Louisville police officers involved in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid with civil rights violations. Federal charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes, Brett Hankison and Kelly Goodlett, along with Louisville police Sgt. Kyle Meany were announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (Photo provided by Taylor family attorney Sam Aguiar via AP)
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation) — Former Louisville police Detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a civil rights charge stemming from the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose death in a botched police drug raid helped spark racial justice protests in 2020.
Goodlett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate Taylor’s civil rights for helping falsify an affidavit for the search of her apartment. She faces a sentence of no more than five years in prison.
Her sentencing is tentatively set for Nov. 22.
Goodlett is expected to be a star witness at the trial of two of her former coworkers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, when they are tried on civil rights charges in connection with Taylor’s death, according to The Courier-Journal.
Taylor was shot by officers who knocked down her apartment door while executing a search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door, and they returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times.
The charges — most of which stem from the faulty drug warrant used to search Taylor’s home — are an effort to hold law enforcement accountable for the killing of the 26-year-old medical worker. One of the officers was acquitted of state charges.
The Justice Department is also conducting a non-criminal investigation of the Louisville Police Department. Announced last year, the probe is scrutinizing whether the department has a pattern of using excessive force and conducting unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.