Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate Breona Taylor’s civil rights.
Goodlett confirmed the plea with his attorney during an online court hearing Friday.
Taylor was fatally shot when police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, executed a “no-knock” search warrant at her home shortly after midnight on March 13, 2020.
Taylor’s friend, Kenneth Walker, said he mistook them for intruders and fired at the officers, who returned fire with more than 25 rounds, killing Taylor.
Goodlett, who was not present at the time of the incident, is charged for her role in helping falsify a search warrant affidavit at Taylor’s apartment.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on August 4 that the Department of Justice has indicted four former and current Louisville police officers in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor. The charges include civil rights violations, illegal conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force and felonies.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old certified emergency medical technician, was killed in March when police executed multiple search warrants at her home.
Family of Breonna Taylor
“The federal charges announced today allege that members of the Police Investigations Division falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for Ms. Taylor’s home and that this action violated federal civil rights laws and that these violations led to Ms. Taylor’s death,” Garland said at a press conference.
Federal charges against Goodlett, along with former detective Joshua Janes and former sergeant Kyle Meaney, allege they violated Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights when they sought a warrant to search Taylor’s home knowing they lacked probable cause and that they knew their affidavit in support of the warrant contained false and misleading information and omitted other material information, which resulted in her death.
Charges have also been filed against Brett Hankison, a former Louisville Metro employee. Hankison is charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under the law, both civil rights violations.
Hankison previously stood trial on state charges related to the break-in at Taylor’s apartment and was found not guilty of all charges. He was accused of recklessly shooting into a neighboring apartment during the attack that killed Breonna Taylor, but pleaded not guilty to all three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.
Janes’ attorney, Thomas Clay, declined ABC News’ request for comment. Attorney information for Meaney and Hankison was not immediately available.
“Among other things, the affidavit falsely claimed that officers confirmed that the target of the alleged drug trafficking operation had received packages at Ms. Taylor’s address. In fact, defendants Janes and Goodlett knew that was not true,” Garland said during a press conference.
Garland also alleged that Janes and Goodlett knew that armed police officers would raid Taylor’s home and that conducting the search could create a “dangerous situation for anyone who happened to be in Ms. Taylor’s home.”
Goodlett’s next court appearance is August 22.
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