DOJ's Breonna Taylor suit ignores key evidence

By Tatiana Prophet

The investigation by the Louisville Police Department into the drug ring that included Breonna Taylor has been misrepresented by both local and national media, and most recently by the attorney general of the United States, Merrick Garland. We know this because of the police file that was leaked after her death, which showed a pattern of evidence dating back to 2016 that connected her to the drug kingpin.

If that evidence had not been made public, we would have thought — like most of the general public — that Breonna Taylor was unfairly targeted based on the suspicion that she had been receiving packages for her sometime boyfriend Jamarcus Glover, and that detectives who caused her death had falsified the search warrant approved by a judge. See the August 6, 2022, article in The New York Times: "Breonna Taylor Raid Puts Focus on Officers Who Lie for Search Warrants."

That article was based on this Department of Justice press release: "Current and Former Louisville, Kentucky Police Officers Charged with Federal Crimes Related to Death of Breonna Taylor."

The press release makes sense if you discount the trove of leaked evidence that detectives had before the raid (link below for paid subscribers). The only indication that the DOJ is aware of that evidence is a mention of “stale information” that was part of the warrant.

The indictment charges two former Louisville PD detectives, one current Louisville PD sergeant, and one current detective. Sergeant Kyle Meany and former detective Joshua Jaynes were charged with four counts: willfully depriving Taylor of her Fourth Amendment rights against search and seizure by “drafting and approving a false affidavit to obtain a search warrant for Taylor’s home. The indictment alleges that Jaynes and Meany knew that the affidavit contained false and misleading statements, omitted material facts, relied on stale information, and was not supported by probable cause.”

The reality of surveillance and various documents shows that Taylor was still helping Glover in the 10 weeks of 2020 leading up to her death. She bailed him out of jail and agreed to track down his money by calling his associates, according to jailhouse phone calls from the beginning of the year. Why, then, have the media ignored these facts when informing the public of her untimely, violent death?

The other three counts involved conspiracy to cover up what they had done after the fact. Detective Kelly Goodlett was also charged with conspiracy to falsify the search warrant, while former Detective Brett Hankison was charged with violating Taylor’s civil rights “for firing his service weapon into Taylor’s apartment through a covered window and covered glass door.” There is no mention of Taylor’s companion, Kenneth Walker (not the drug kingpin) having fired his legally owned Glock at police first.

The other three detectives who were part of the raid were “unaware” of the falsification of the warrant, the DOJ press release goes on to state. Those men have not been charged.

Walker told detectives the night Taylor died (March 13, 2020) that after police knocked loudly, both he and Taylor repeatedly asked who was at the door, but did not hear a response. He even shared that he thought the person knocking might be an ex-boyfriend he had encountered at Taylor’s home several months before. That person he had in mind was most likely Jamarcus Glover.

According to local news reports, it was the Louisville Police Department that determined Jaynes had falsified the warrant, and fired him. Jaynes appealed the firing at the time, and has reportedly pled not guilty to the federal charges.

What’s troubling for me as a journalist is, given the evidence of Taylor’s involvement with her sometime boyfriend Glover, including bailing him out of jail and knowing he was using her address on his bank account (evidence subpoenaed by a grand jury before her death), in addition to video footage showing her accompanying Glover on runs to the “trap house,” why would Jaynes need to falsify the warrant in the first place?

Here is the evidence file posted by former police officer and media personality Brandon Tatum (according to the file itself, it was prepared by detective Kelly Goodlett).

Further reading:
Back to Facts, Sept. 26, 2020: “Her life mattered, even to those whose actions led to her death”

Back to Facts, Nov. 25, 2020: “Violent crime has claimed the lives of two men connected with the Breonna Taylor case”