Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend reaches multimillion dollar settlement after ‘unimaginable’ death

Kenneth Walker’s lawyers say Taylor’s death ‘will haunt him for the rest of his life’ despite $2m settlement

Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker has reached a financial settlement of $2m with officials of the City of Louisville, according to his lawyer.

Taylor, 26, was shot dead by plainclothes officers during a police raid at her own home in Louisville, Kentucky, on 13 March 2020 after they executed a search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.

Mr Walker was with her on that day and had fired a single shot from a handgun, striking an officer in the leg as he believed the police to be intruders.

The officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department opened fire, killing Taylor.

The city agreed to pay $2m to settle lawsuits filed by Mr Walker, said his attorney Steve Romines.

Mr Romines said Taylor’s death “will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life” but he is pleased that this chapter of his life is completed.

“He will live with the effects of being put in harm’s way due to a falsified warrant, to being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and to suffering the unimaginable and horrific death of Breonna Taylor,” Mr Romines added.

In September 2020, Louisville officials had agreed to pay a historic $12m wrongful death settlement to the Taylor family.

Taylor, who worked as an emergency medical tech, was in bed with Mr Walker for the night when officers kicked her door.

Mr Walker said his girlfriend had yelled to ask who was at the door, but did not get a response. He then fired from his legally owned gun, hitting Sgt John Mattingly, one of the officers, in the leg.

He was initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but the charges against him were eventually dropped as protests and media attention on the case intensified.

Mr Walker filed a lawsuit in state court in September 2020 and a federal civil rights lawsuit in March 2021.

In August, former police detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty to helping falsify evidence to link Taylor to a wanted drug dealer.

Two other former officers who were part of the raid are scheduled to go on trial in federal court next year.