Firing Upheld for Louisville Detective Who Fatally Shot Breonna Taylor

Social Justice

By Kelton Brooks Published: December 16, 2021

Firing Upheld for Louisville Detective Who Fatally Shot Breonna Taylor

In Summary

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Myles Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor.

Former Louisville Police Department Detective Myles Cosgrove will not be getting his job back.

A review board upheld the termination of Cosgrove, who was fired for shooting and killing Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on, March 13, 2020.

With a 5-2 vote on Wednesday, the Louisville Metro Police Merit Board justified the decision to fire Cosgrove.

According to a copy of Cosgrove’s termination letter, the detective was fired in January 2021 for using deadly force after firing 16 rounds into Taylor’s home and failing to activate his body camera.

The LMPD held a board notice of hearing in November. The second half of Cosgrove’s hearing began Monday and ended Wednesday.

The hearings revealed Cosgrove raised money on GiveSendGo, “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site,” to fund his retirement in September 2020.

“Myles’ reputation has been completely dismantled and the psychological trauma is something that he will have to cope with for the rest of his life,” the fundraiser description reads.

As of Thursday, Cosgrove has raised close to $62,000. His goal is $75,000.

Cosgrove wasn’t the only detective fired. Joshua Jaynes, who wrote the search warrant, was also fired. During the time of the fatal shooting, the Louisville police union called the terminations unjustified.

“There is certainly no evidence in this case that policies and procedures of the LMPD were violated to the extent that warranted termination,” the River City Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement. “Interim Chief (Yvette) Gentry not only made the wrong decision, but also sent an ominous message to every sworn officer of the Louisville Metro Police Department.”

Taylor, 26, was killed by the LMPD after they executed a no-knock warrant. She was shot five times.

None of the officers involved in her death were indicted for killing Taylor. A grand jury charged one of the officers, Brett Hankison, on three counts of felony wanton endangerment for firing 10 shots into Taylor’s home.

Officer Brett Hankison. The department has fired Hankison, one of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. A termination letter for Hankison released by the city’s police department Tuesday, June 23, 2020, said Hankison violated procedures by showing “extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 rounds of gunfire into Taylor’s apartment in March. The letter also said Hankison violated the rule against using deadly force. (Louisville Police Department via AP, File)

Hankison pleaded not guilty and will stand trial in 2022.