The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department in Kentucky has informed two more officers of its intention to fire them for their “extreme violations” of departmental policies that led to Breonna Taylor’s unnecessary death.
One of the officers, Detective Joshua Jaynes, will be fired for obtaining a search warrant under fraudulent means. The second officer, who the FBI determined fired the fatal shot, Detective Myles Cosgrove, also was informed that he will no longer be employed with the department, NBC News reports.
Both men are entitled to a pre-termination hearing in the very near future, but the attorney for Jaynes does not expect the ruling to be overturned.
As rolling out previously reported, the LMPD already fired Officer Brett Hankison on the grounds he “violated obedience to rules and regulations” when he fired bullets into an adjacent apartment on that fateful night.
Taylor became an international cause célèbre after several officers in possession of a no-knock warrant performed a botched raid at her apartment at 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020, that ended in Taylor’s death. No drugs were ever found in her home.
It turns out that the search warrant to enter Taylor’s residence allegedly was obtained under fraudulent circumstances, NBC News reports. Jaynes swore in an official affidavit that he had received a reliable tip from the U.S. Postal Inspector that drugs were being mailed to Taylor’s apartment. Jaynes later admitted he did not receive such a tip from the USPS.
There is no word yet if Jaynes also will be charged with a crime for lying to a judge under oath.
