A former police officer in Kentucky has been convicted of violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old woman who was fatally shot in her home during a flawed police raid in 2020. Brett Hankison, 47, could face a lengthy prison sentence, potentially up to life, after the jury determined he used excessive force during the incident.

While Hankison was acquitted on a separate charge concerning the civil rights of one of Taylor’s neighbors, he did fire ten shots into her apartment, claiming he acted to protect his fellow officers during the raid. This verdict marks the third trial for Hankison and is significant as it is the first time any officer involved in Taylor’s death has been convicted of a crime.

Hankison was the first of four officers charged in connection with Taylor’s death to be tried. One former officer pleaded guilty, while two others had their federal charges dismissed earlier this year. However, they have since been indicted again by the U.S. Justice Department on new charges.

The tragic events unfolded when plainclothes officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant at Taylor’s residence. In the early hours, while she and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker were asleep, they forced their way into her apartment without announcing their identity as police officers. Believing they were intruders, Walker fired a single shot at the officers as they entered.

Although another officer fired the shot that resulted in Taylor’s death, prosecutors argued that this use of deadly force was justified because Walker had opened fire first, wounding an officer. Hankison’s bullets did not injure anyone but penetrated a neighboring unit where a family was asleep.

Post-incident reports included numerous inaccuracies; notably, they stated that Taylor had no injuries and claimed no force was used to enter her home despite evidence to the contrary. Following her death, Taylor became a significant symbol during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

In June 2020, Hankison was dismissed from the Louisville Metro Police Department. His previous federal trial ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury, and he had been acquitted on three counts of felony wanton endangerment in a state trial held in March 2022. Both Taylor’s family and Walker have received compensation from the city due to this incident, which also prompted several police reforms in Louisville.