The Louisville subway police department is firing two of the officers involved in the raid that led to the Breonna Taylor shooting in March, officers’ attorneys confirmed Tuesday. Detective Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who opened fire during the raid, and Detective Josh Jaynes, who obtained the search warrant from Taylor’s home, have received pre-completion letters, his lawyers said. .
Jaynes’ pre-termination letter, signed by interim police chief Yvette Gentry, accuses him of lying in the search warrant application, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CBS News. In the application, Jaynes claimed to have received information from a U.S. postal inspector that Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, had received suspicious packages at Taylor’s apartment.
According to Gentry’s letter, this information “was not true.” The letter alleges that Jaynes lied about this information coming from a postal inspector, when in fact it came from LMPD Sergeant John Mattingly, who himself heard it from “a Shively police officer.”
According to CBS affiliate WLKY-TV, Jaynes was asked by a Public Integrity Unit investigator in May if he had intentionally tricked the judge into obtaining approval of the order.
“I could have written a little differently in there,” Jaynes heard in a recorded interview. “But I try to be as (as unintelligible) as it is detailed. Or sometimes it’s good not to be as detailed.”
LMPD
Gentry’s letter also states that Jaynes did not complete the necessary search warrant operations plan on or before March 13, the day of the raid that resulted in Taylor’s death.
“Because the plan of operations was not completed properly, a very dangerous situation was created for all parties involved,” the letter says. “You were the officer who conducted most of the investigation, but neither you, nor your direct supervisor, nor your lieutenant were available on the site when the search warrant was executed.”
Attorney Thomas Clay, who represents Jaynes, told CBS News that Jaynes did not personally create the plan of operations.
“This plan was reviewed at several levels of command,” Clay said. “There was a final briefing where there was an LMPD lieutenant colonel. Therefore, if there were flaws in this plan, the supervisors should have discovered them.”
Clay also told CBS News that a mayoral representative was present at the final briefing held just before the raid.
Clay called the allegations of forgery “totally unfounded.”
Jaynes will have the opportunity to defend himself in a meeting with Gentry and “selected staff” Thursday morning, Gentry wrote in the letter. Clay indicated that he will attend this meeting.
CBS News has not reviewed a prior termination letter for Cosgrove, but his attorney confirmed to WLKY-TV that his client had received one. The lawyer made no further comment.
A spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department said he could not comment on the cases, citing the internal investigation.
LMPD
Former police officer Brett Hankison was previously fired for his role in raid. He is the only officer to do so face charges result of the raid, although he was not directly charged with Taylor’s death. Instead, Hankison was charged with three felony counts of assaulting a neighboring apartment. He has a lawyer not guilty.
Gentry took over as interim police chief in October after former chief Steve Conrad was fired after deadly police shooting of David McAtee, a black man who owned a barbecue restaurant in Louisville.
Taylor was shot dead when police executed a search warrant at his home in connection with a drug case. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, claims that the police never announced themselves and that they shot at them when they broke down the apartment door with a battering ram.
Walker wounded Mattingly and police returned fire and killed Taylor. No illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
Lonita Baker, a lawyer for Breonna Taylor’s family, welcomed the department’s decision to fire the two officers, but made it clear that her clients wanted to file more criminal charges in addition to the layoffs.
“Sergeant Gentry has done what she has the power to do with these officers, which puts them off. So the fact that they weren’t patrolling the streets of Louisville, Kentucky, is a step in the right direction.” , said Baker. he told CBS News.
He made it clear, however, that “in an ideal world, all officers would be charged at this point and all officers, including Sergeant Mattingly, would be fired.”
Baker said she and her clients believed that “the actions alleged in the letters of resolution, which we have seen we have evidence, are also sufficient for criminal charges to be filed against Cosgrove.
Victoria Albert and Erin Donoghue contributed to the communication.