One year later: The impact of Breonna Taylor’s death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation Now) — Breonna Taylor’s name has become a rallying cry to protest racial injustice nationwide. While reforms have been put into place by the police department since her death a year ago, some say not enough has changed.

The protests may not be as big or loud as they were this time last year, but a feverish push for justice for Taylor is still going on in the background more than 365 days later.

Taylor’s cousin Tawanna Gordon said the family is still healing.

“People, you know, they would say well it’s only been a year, but for us, it feels like a lifetime,” Gordon said.

The 26-year-old EMT was killed by a barrage of bullets fired into her home during a botched police raid by Louisville officers last March.

The next 12 months were filled with national unrest as the country grappled with racial reconciliation.
First, a grand jury declined to indict the officers involved, sparking nationwide protests.

In the time since Breonna’s Law was passed in Kentucky banning no-knock warrants, Taylor’s family was awarded a historic $12 million settlement with the City of Louisville and three of the officers involved were fired from the police department.

Calls for accountability for the officers who killed her continue and protesters continue to chant “arrest the cops.” That hasn’t happened.

Now, advocates say, a federal investigation is the last chance.

“Are we going to say it’s going to come in a prosecutorial way? We might not be so hopeful because we’ve been rejected almost in every avenue that we’ve taken to get that, but we’re hopeful that accountability will come with different police reforms,” Gordon.

Those reforms are already in the works as a part of that $12 million settlement. Some of the changes include requiring commanders to review and approve search warrants and incentives for officers to live in the areas where they serve.