Breonna Taylor's mother urges DOJ to bring charges against officers

March 14 (UPI) -- Breonna Taylor's mother on Monday urged the Justice Department to bring federal charges against police officers involved in the no-knock raid that led to her daughter's fatal shooting in 2020.

Sunday marked the two-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's death, and her mother, Tamika Palmer, visited the Department of Justice to call for a further investigation into the raid on Breonna's Louisville, Ky., apartment.

None of the officers involved have been charged in connection with her death.

"For the nation, it's been two years and one day. For me, I'm trapped in March 13, 2020. I don't know how people think I should just move on," Palmer said in a news conference following the meeting.

"I'm here at the Department of Justice asking them to do the right thing," she said. "This is bigger than Breonna. If no one addresses this issue, they'll keep kicking in our doors and murdering us."

Officers were executing a search warrant for Breonna Taylor's ex-boyfriend for allegedly dealing drugs when the shooting occurred.

He was not at the residence but her current boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, thought someone was breaking into the home and fired a shot from a 9mm pistol at the officers. They responded by firing 32 shots into the apartment and killing Taylor as she slept in her bedroom.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron convened a grand jury to investigate possible charges against the officers six months after Taylor's killing. Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was indicted in September 2020 on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through a covered glass door and window into the apartment behind Taylor's, where a man, a pregnant woman and 5-year-old child were inside.

Earlier this month Hankison was found not guilty.

Myles Cosgrove, one of the other officers involved in the raid, was fired in January 2021 for firing rounds into Taylor's home and failing to activate his body camera. A third officer, Jonathan Mattingly, retired in April 2021. Neither has been charged in the case.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing Taylor's family, said Palmer met with Kristen Clarke, the top official for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, for about 45 minutes.

"They said, 'be not dismayed,'" Crump said. "They're turning over every stone, looking at any civil rights charges on behalf of Breonna Taylor, because they would do the same for any citizen. Because Breonna Taylor deserves it."

A Justice Department representative confirmed the meeting, adding that the matter "is currently under investigation," and refused further comment.