Former Louisville detective to plead guilty in Breonna Taylor shooting case, lawyer says

Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett will plead guilty at her next court hearing on 22 August

A former Kentucky police detective will plead guilty to federal charges for the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, her lawyer has said.

Kelly Goodlett, formerly with the Louisville Police Department, intends to plead guilty to helping falsify a search warrant and filing a false report, his attorney, Brandon Marshall said in court Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Ms Goodlett, who was released on $10,000 bond, plans to enter her plea during her next hearing before Judge David Hall in a Western District court on 22 August. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

She stands accused of falsely saying a postal inspector had confirmed to her that Ms Taylor was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, to justify the raid that led to Ms Taylor’s killing. The prosecution also alleges that Ms Goodlett then filed a false report to cover it up.

Ms Goodlett was ordered not to contact her codefendants, Sergeant Kyle Meany, and former detectives Joshua Jaynes, who are facing civil right charges.

Meanwhile, former detective Brett Hankison is accused of violating the civil rights of Ms Taylor, her boyfriend and three neighbors when he blindly fired shots in the apartment building, according to the prosecution. Ms Goodlett, who unlike her former colleagues was not been indicted but charged on information, is expected to testify against them.

According to the Post, the manner in which her charges were brought suggests she has agreed to a plea deal.

The charges last week came more than two years after the fatal shooting of Ms Taylor, who was killed in her home during a botched police raid in March 2020. Ms Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker fired his legally owned arm when officers broke into the home to carry out a search warrant in a drug investigation.

Mr Walker hit one officer in the leg. He has said he thought an intruder had broken inside the apartment.

“Breonna Taylor should be alive today ... We share, but cannot fully imagine, the grief felt by Breonna Taylor’s loved ones,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on 4 August.

Mr Garland said that the 2020 narcotics raid by the disbanded Place-Based Investigation and its plainclothes unit was reckless and put in danger the lives of people living in the building. Ms Goodlett quit after the charges were brought against her.