Here is a timeline of events that began with the death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed by police in her home in Louisville, Kentucky:
— March 13, 2020: Officers serving a narcotics warrant fatally shoot Taylor in her home.
— March 13, hours later: Police announce the arrest of Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, in the wounding of an officer during an exchange of gunfire; Taylor is left unidentified at the news conference, described as “an unresponsive woman who was later pronounced dead.”
— March, April, 2020: The shooting stays out of the headlines as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in the U.S.
— April 27, 2020: Taylor’s family files wrongful death lawsuit against police department and city, challenging the police narrative.
— May 22, 2020: Prosecutors announce they will drop attempted murder charges against Walker, who shot at officers in his girlfriend’s home.
— May 28, 2020: Walker’s anguished 911 call is released, three days after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota, sparking large protests in Louisville.
— May 29, 2020: Mayor Greg Fischer suspends use of no-knock warrants by Louisville police.
— June 1, 2020: Fischer fires Police Chief Steve Conrad after officers failed to turn on body cameras in the shooting of barbecue cook David McAtee during protests in Louisville.
— June 11, 2020: Louisville Metro Council unanimously passes “Breonna’s Law,” which bans use of no-knock warrants.
— June 23, 2020: Officer Brett Hankison, one of three officers who fired shots the night of Taylor’s death, is fired for “blindly” firing into Taylor’s apartment.
— Sept. 15, 2020: City announces civil settlement providing Taylor’s family with $12 million and promising police reforms.
— Sept. 23, 2020: A Kentucky grand jury indicts Hankison for shooting into neighboring apartments, but did not charge any officers for their role in Taylor’s death.
— April 26, 2021: Attorney General Merrick Garland announces a Justice Department probe into policing in Louisville over Taylor’s death.
— March 3, 2022: Former Kentucky police detective Brett Hankison is acquitted of state charges that he endangered neighbors when he fired into Taylor’s apartment during a botched drug raid that resulted in Taylor’s death.
— Dec. 12, 2022: Walker settles two lawsuits against the city of Louisville. The city agrees to pay $2 million to settle lawsuits filed by Walker in federal and state courts.
— March 8, 2023: The U.S. Justice Department finds Louisville police engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discrimination against the Black community following an investigation prompted by Taylor’s death.
— Nov. 16, 2023: Jurors fail to reach a unanimous verdict on federal civil rights charges in the trial of Hankison, who was charged in the police raid that killed Taylor. The judge declares a mistrial.
— Dec. 13, 2023: Federal prosecutors tell a judge they intend to retry Hankison.
— Aug. 23, 2024: A federal judge throws out felony charges against two former Louisville officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, who were accused of falsifying a warrant that led police to Taylor’s door before they fatally shot her.
— Oct. 1, 2024: Federal prosecutors file a new indictment against Jaynes and Meany.
— Nov. 2, 2024: A federal jury convicts Hankison of using excessive force on Taylor during a botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead. It’s the first conviction of a Louisville police officer who was involved in the deadly raid.
— Dec. 12, 2024: The Justice Department and the city of Louisville reach an agreement to reform the city’s police force after an investigation prompted by Taylor’s death.
— May 21, 2025: The Department of Justice, now under President Donald Trump’s administration, moved to cancel the police reform agreement with Louisville, in addition to a settlement with Minneapolis and investigative findings into six other police departments that President Joe Biden’s administration had accused of civil rights violations.
— July 21, 2025: A federal judge sentences Hankison to 33 months in prison, rebuffing a Department of Justice recommendation of no prison time.
— Aug. 20, 2025: A federal judge throws out felony charges in the new indictment against Jaynes and Meany.
— Nov. 17, 2025: The Department of Justice argues to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Hankison should serve no prison time.
— Dec. 31, 2025: A federal judge dismisses the proposed Louisville police reform agreement with the Department of Justice.
— March 20, 2026: The Department of Justice files a motion to dismiss the criminal case against Jaynes and Meany.
