Former Louisville police officers have admitted to falsifying information on the search warrant that led to the death of Breonna Taylor.
When Taylor was killed in March 2020, detectives broke into her home under the pretenses of a no-knock warrant. They had been investigating Taylor's ex-boyfriend for drug crimes, and after seeing him retrieve a package from Taylor's residence, they falsely believed her to be involved.
An affidavit from Kelly Goodlett of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) revealed that detectives were unable to find any evidence the package contained drugs or money. Despite this, the officers acted on "gut feelings" and requested the warrant.
“The detectives, knowing that they needed actual evidence, rather than just a gut feeling, to get a warrant, attempted to find evidence supporting this gut belief,” the statement reads.
After a probe of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service that found "nothing there," Goodlett alleges that Detective Joshua Jaynes forged an authentication from the postal inspector that claimed packages were being delivered to Taylor in the name of her ex.
Goodlett's information comes through a plea deal she reached with Attorney General Merrick Garland. She has been charged by the United States Department of Justice with conspiracy for her role in falsifying the information in the warrant, whereas Jaynes and Former LMPD Sergeant Kyle Meany are both charged with violating Taylor’s civil rights, and could spend life in prison if convicted.
"Goodlett and Jaynes, both of whom were acting under color of law, agreed to press forward with a search warrant for Ms. Taylor’s home despite knowing that they lacked probable cause," Goodlett's plea agreement reads. "They agreed to do this by falsifying the affidavit used to get the warrant. Goodlett and Jaynes thus conspired to willfully violate Ms. Taylor’s right to be free from unreasonable searches."
It added: "They knew that the warrant would be executed, at night, by officers with firearms, and that it was foreseeable that a person in the home could be injured or killed."
Taylor's killers were only charged after the Department of Justice began their investigation, following Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's restrictions on the charges a grand jury could levy against the officers.
In his deliberations on the case, Garland stated: “Breonna Taylor should be alive today."
Despite the LMPD implementing measures to reform in the two and a half years following Taylor's killing, Goodlett's information has opened old wounds for the city's Black community, especially after the brutal treatment of activists by police during the initial protests over Taylor's death.
Shortly after the affidavit's release, Louisville Urban League President Sadiqa Reynolds tweeted: “We were right to protest. People are dead and lives upended because of a pile of lies.”
