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Breonna Taylor’s family is suing the Louisville Police Department over questions about LPD officers’ body camera videos on the night she was killed by law enforcement. Ms. Taylor, who was the victim of a police officer who shot her while attempting to execute a warrant on the wrong apartment, was killed on March 13, 2020.
Louisville Police has claimed that not one of the three officers involved in Ms. Taylor’s death had their body cameras on when Ms. Taylor was shot and killed, as she slept in her apartment. However, several of the officers involved had a type of camera that automatically activates when police lights are turned on.
“Simply put, it would have been difficult for most of the LMPD members with body cameras … to not have had their Axon body cameras activated at one point or another,” the lawsuit says. “Even those who may have left cameras in vehicles or other locations should have been activated to an event mode from a buffering mode, so long as the camera was within range of Signal unit.”
Police deny claims that body cams were turned on
Meanwhile, the Louisville Police Department claims otherwise. While one officer involved was pictured with his body camera strapped on, LPD stated the recorder lacked a device inside. The law enforcement agency also stated that not every police officer wears a body camera.
The lawsuit references previous body cam footage that was released, and concludes that “misinformation has been presented to the general public regarding the usage of body cameras” in Ms. Taylor’s death at the hands of law enforcement.
None of the three officers involved in the botched arrest have been charged with murder or manslaughter after killing Ms. Taylor. One officer retired, another was fired, and a third was fired after being charged with wanton endangerment — because a bullet he shot went into a neighboring apartment.
Breonna Taylor was 26 years old and working as an emergency technician when she was killed by Louisville Police Department officers in March 2020. Her family recently settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the city of Louisville.