‘I’m deeply, deeply sorry’: US city settles in Breonna Taylor case
The family of a black woman who was killed after US police fired a barrage of gunfire at her will receive a settlement of US$12 million ($16.4 million).
The US city of Louisville will resolve a wrongful death lawsuit over the police killing of Breonna Taylor by making the largest payout ever for a police misconduct case.
It comes more than six months after the 26-year-old emergency room technician was killed in her apartment during a police raid.
Louisville officers had executed a so-called no-knock search warrant as part of a drug investigation that found no drugs inside her home.
Mayor Greg Fischer will also commit to reforming police procedures as it was later alleged that the officers stormed the wrong home.
“I’m deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death,” Mr Fischer told reporters as he stood alongside Ms Taylor’s family.
“My administration is not waiting to move ahead with needed reforms to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”
Ms Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, filed a lawsuit claiming police used flawed information when they obtained the “no-knock” warrant.
The lawsuit settlement will include reforms on how warrants are handled by police.
The state’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron, is investigating the actions of three officers in the March 13 fatal shooting, with Ms Palmer saying she is trying to be patient about the results and the long wait.
Her lawsuit accused three officers of blindly firing into Ms Taylor’s apartment the night of the raid.
In an aerial view from a drone, a large-scale ground mural depicting Breonna Taylor with the text ‘Black Lives Matter. Photo: Getty
Ms Taylor had been asleep but got up when she heard a loud banging at the door. She was shot eight times by officers who burst into her home.
Ms Taylor’s death sparked months of protests in Louisville and calls across the US for the officers to be criminally charged.
Two months later, George Floyd was pinned to the street under the knee of a white police officer and killed, sparking nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.
And just last month another black man, Jacob Blake, was shot several times in front of his children and likely left paralysed.
Wearing a hospital gown, Jacob Blake has spoken publicly for the first time after being shot several times by police.
High-profile celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James and Lewis Hamilton have called for the officers to be charged in Ms Taylor’s death.
Ms Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker was in the apartment with her and fired a single shot that struck an officer in the leg.
Mr Walker said he did not hear police announce themselves and said he thought he was guarding against an intruder.
The warrant was one of five issued in a wide-ranging investigation of a drug trafficking suspect who had previously dated Ms Taylor.
That man, Jamarcus Glover, was arrested at a different location about 16km away from Ms Taylor’s apartment on the same evening.
-with AAP