Kentucky AG has received ballistics report in Breonna Taylor case
LOUISVILLE, KY – AUGUST 11: A billboard featuring a picture of Breonna Taylor and calling for the arrest of police officers involved in her death is seen on August 11, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine sponsored the campaign featuring 26 billboards, one for every year Taylor was alive, across the city of Louisville where she died. Taylor was killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers in a no-knock raid on March 13 when gunfire erupted. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation) — Kentucky’s attorney general has received a long-awaited FBI ballistics report in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron tweeted Sunday that there is additional analysis needed now that the report is in his hands, and there would be no announcement on the investigation this week.
“We continue to work diligently to follow the facts and complete the investigation,” Cameron tweeted.
Cameron has indicated the ballistics report from federal investigators was an important piece of evidence still needed in the investigation of Taylor’s death by police on March 13.
His office took over the probe into the officers’ actions in May after the local prosecutor recused himself. Cameron made the first mention of the ballistics report earlier this month, after intense pressure from activists and high-profile celebrities.
Ballistics trace the path and impact of bullets and explosive devices. The tests were performed at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia.
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical worker, was shot several times by Louisville police serving a “no knock” narcotics search warrant at her home. Officers broke down the door and were met with gunfire from Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker who has said he thought he was defending against a home invasion. One of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly, was shot in the leg. Mattingly and two other officers, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson were placed on administrative reassignment after the shooting, and Hankison was later fired.
Walker was initially charged but those charges were later dropped.
No drugs were found in the home and Taylor was unarmed.
Protesters have gathered outside Cameron’s Louisville home and at Kentucky’s Capitol in Frankfort to demand justice for Taylor. Pop star Beyoncé wrote to Cameron, saying the officers “must be held accountable for their actions.” Oprah Winfrey has paid for billboards around Louisville calling on Cameron to charge the officers who shot Taylor.
Cameron, Kentucky’s first African American attorney general, recently met with Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, acknowledging the enormity of her loss even as he asked her to be patient. Cameron took office in December.
Cameron also spoke at the Republican National Convention last week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.