May 22 (UPI) -- Prosecutors on Friday dropped the attempted murder charges against a Kentucky man who shot and injured a police officer involved in a raid on his apartment that killed an unarmed woman.
Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine announced his office will move to dismiss the case against Kenneth Walker, who's been in jail since March 13 when three plainclothes officers carried out a drug raid on his apartment. The raid left Walker's girlfriend, Breonna Taylor, dead in their bed.
Walker said the officers didn't identify themselves when they entered the Louisville apartment, so he grabbed his gun and shot at them, injuring one of the officers in the leg. His attorney said he thought he was being robbed and didn't know the three men were police officers.
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Taylor's mother, said Walker "did everything right" during the raid, including calling 911, asking who was at the door and firing a non-lethal warning shot.
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"Unlike the police, he did not shoot to kill."
The officers responded with fire, striking Taylor eight times, killing her. Walker's attorney, Rob Eggert, said officers shot at least 22 bullets.
Taylor, 26, was a certified emergency medical technician, and was not the subject of the raid. She had no criminal history.
Wine said that if further investigation unearths more evidence, new charges against Walker may be filed.
"It's very possible there was no criminal activity on either side of that door because people couldn't hear what the other party was saying," he said.
Taylor's family filed a lawsuit in late April, accusing the three officers -- Myles Cosgrove, Brett Hankison and Jonathan Mattingly -- of wrongful death, excessive force and negligence. They're seeking a jury trial with compensatory and punitive damages.
Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, the plaintiff in the suit, took issue with the officers' use of a "no-knock" search warrant, which means that, by definition, they didn't announce themselves when entering the apartment. Officers have said they did announce their identity.
