- Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. (Photo source: ag.ky.gov)
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron appears to have misled the public about the evidence compiled in the Breonna Taylor case.
A ballistics report by the Kentucky State Police revealed that Cameron was not completely truthful about his claim that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, according to The Courier-Journal.
On Sept. 23, Cameron, held a press conference following a grand jury’s indictment of Brett Hankison, who was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. Cameron shared his version of the events that took place surrounding Taylor’s death.
On March 13, Hankison and officers Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove — entered Taylor’s apartment after obtaining a no-knock warrant. The officers fired more than 20 shots, killing Taylor. Taylor’s boyfriend reportedly fired one shot, striking Mattingly in the leg.
Cameron claimed that officer Myles Cosgrove fired the fatal shot, but was justified after Taylor’s boyfriend fired his 9mm handgun first, striking Mattingly.
“After breaching the door, Sgt. Mattingly was the first and only officer to enter the residence. Sgt. Mattingly identified two individuals standing beside one another at the end of the hall — a male and a female,” Cameron said. “In his statement, he says that the male was holding a gun, arms extended in a shooting stance.
“Sgt. Mattingly saw the man’s gun fire, heard a ‘boom’ and immediately knew he was shot as a result of feeling heat in his upper thigh. Kenneth Walker fired the shot that hit Sgt. Mattingly. There’s no evidence to support that Sgt. Mattingly was hit by friendly fire from other officers. Mr. Walker admitted that he fired one shot and was the first to shoot. In addition to all the testimony, the ballistics report shows that the round the shot Stgt. Mattingly was fired from a 9mm handgun. The LMPD officers fired .40-caliber handguns.
“Sgt. Mattingly returned fire down the hallway. Mattingly fired six shots, almost simultaneously. Detective Cosgrave, also in the doorway, shot 16 times. This all took place in a matter of seconds. In total, six bullets struck Miss Taylor. Medical evidence obtained by our team indicates that only one shot was fatal.”
However, the ballistics report, which was not released until after the grand jury’s decision, concluded that “due to limited markings of comparative value, the 9mm bullet that hit and exited Mattingly was neither identified nor eliminated as having been fired from Walker’s gun.”
Walker’s attorney, Steven Rominies, obtained a report that revealed that Hankison had been issued a 9mm handgun, according to CNN.
Cameron has yet to respond to the discrepancies from the ballistics report and his press conference.
