Family of black woman who was shot by police while sleeping filed lawsuit against officers [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT worker, died on March 13 after three police officials from the Louisville Metro Police Department forcefully entered her house and fired shots. 

• Taylor’s family filed a lawsuit against the police officers for wrongfully entering into Breonna’s house and killing her. 

• The accused police officers were Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove. 

A black woman was “blindly fired” and killed by police officials, who forced their way inside her home in Louisville, Kentucky while she was asleep, according to a lawsuit filed by the family’s victim.

The suit states that the death of the victim — Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician (EMT) — was caused by a mistaken search warrant executed by the Louisville Metro Police Department officials on March 13.

Lietenant Ted Eidem said at a March 13 press briefing that cops knocked on the door several times and announced they have a search warrant. They forced their way inside the house and “were immediately met by gun fire.”

This week, about two months after, Taylor’s death gained popularity after the family hired Attorney Ben Crump, the lawyer representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery, the black man who died in Georgia on February 23 after being brutally shot by two white men. 

“We stand with the family of this young woman in demanding answers from the Louisville Police Department,” the lawyer said on Twitter on Monday. 

Crump called out the police department for not being accountable and disregarding the facts and situation of the incident.

The lawsuit states that Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were asleep in their bedroom when cops, not in uniform and with unmarked vehicles, came at the house about 12:30 midnight. Three officials pushed their way inside Taylor’s home “without knocking and without announcing themselves as police officers.”

Taylor and Walker woke up and thought criminals were breaking in, the lawsuit claims. Walker called 911 and, according to The Courier-Journal, police said he opened fire and shot an officer. 

“The defendants then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life. Shots were blindly fired by the officers all throughout Breonna’s home,” the lawsuit states.

Taylor was fatally shot eight times and died. Walker was arrested. Based on the jail records, Walker was charged with assault and attempted murder on a police officer. His attorney could not be reached at the moment. 

“Breonna had posed no threat to the officers and did nothing to deserve to die at their hands,” the suit claims. “The officers failed to use any sound reasonable judgment whatsoever when firing more than 25 blind shots into multiple homes and causing the wrongful death of Breonna.”

Last April, Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, filed the lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court alleging wrongful death, excessive force and gross negligence. 

According to the Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson, the department won’t be able to comment at this time due to an ongoing internal investigation.

The defendants were police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove.

Source: AOL.com