Andrew Wolfson, Darcy Costello and Tessa Duvall, Louisville Courier Journal
The
settlement was announced at a 2 p.m. press conference at Mayor Fischer's
office, with Taylor's family and attorneys Ben Crump, Sam Aguiar and Lonita
Baker.
In
addition to the payment, the deal includes several policing reforms, including
a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a
judge.
Sam
Aguiar, an attorney for Taylor's family, said the city's handling of the case
has been slow and frustrating. But, Aguiar said he hopes Metro Government's
willingness to discuss significant police reforms is "a turning
point."
A large
settlement in the civil suit brought by Taylor's family comes as a Jefferson
County grand jury may hear the criminal case as soon as this week.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is spearheading the criminal
investigation.
The grand
jury would decide whether criminal charges should be filed against any of the
three officers involved in her shooting death March 13 during a search for
drugs, cash and other evidence in her South End apartment that went awry.
Taylor,
26, was shot and killed after Louisville Metro Police officers broke down her
apartment door March 13 to serve a signed no-knock search warrant in
connection with a narcotics investigation centered 10 miles away.
Police say
they knocked and announced their presence, but Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth
Walker, said he and Taylor didn't know who was pounding on the door. When
police battered in the door, Walker fired what he later called a warning shot.
Police say it struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. Mattingly and two
other officers — detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove —
returned fire. Taylor was hit five times and died in her hallway.
Hankison
has been fired while Cosgrove and Mattingly remain on administrative reassignment.
The suit
was filed April 27 and named the three officers as defendants.
It alleges
Taylor's life was wrongfully taken, that police used excessive force
and the search was grossly negligent.
An amended complaint filed about two months later additionally
claimed Taylor's death was the result of Louisville police's effort to clear
out a block for gentrification, and the newly formed Place-Based Investigations unit consisted of
"rogue police" who violated "all levels of policy, protocol and
policing standards."
City
officials vehemently denied the accusations that gentrification played any role
in the narcotics investigation.
The case
picked up steam and media coverage in May when local attorneys for the estate,
Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker, were joined by Florida-based attorney Ben Crump. He has represented
Black Americans killed in controversial shootings, including Trayvon Martin,
Mike Brown Jr. and Tamir Rice.
"LMPD
has tried to sweep this under the rug," Aguiar said at the time. "The family right now
has a very understandable desire to know the full circumstance of what went on
that night."
Taylor's
family alleged in the suit the warrant served at Taylor's apartment was
targeted at Jamarcus Glover, a convicted drug dealer had been located by police
at a drug house 10 miles away before the warrant was served on Taylor's
residence.
A warrant listed Taylor's name and address, but the main
narcotics investigation was centered around Glover and co-defendants' alleged
trafficking on Elliott Avenue in Louisville's Russell neighborhood.
