Update 9/23: On September 23, a grand jury chose to indict Brett Hankison (one of the three officers involved in the death of Briona Taylor) on three counts of first-degree endangerment, not for shooting Taylor, but for "recklessly shooting" into a nearby apartment. The other two officers involved in Taylor's death were not charged.

"The grand jury's decision regarding the murder of Breanna Taylor is outrageous and a travesty to her memory. It is another example of the failure to hold white police officers accountable for the genocide of people of color. In all that we know about Breona Taylor's murder, how can a fair and just system render such a verdict today?" said the family's attorney, Ben Crump, in a statement shared on Twitter (opens in new tab).

Original article

Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on March 13, three officers forced their way into Breanna Taylor's apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, and shot her at least eight times before she died on the hallway floor. Taylor, a black woman, was an ER technician and former paramedic, and her mother, Tamika Palmer, told the Louisville Courier-Journal (opens in new tab) that she "was going to be a nurse, buy a house, and start a family."

Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, told police she was alive for at least five minutes after she was shot and struggling to breathe. Despite this, she was not treated for more than 20 minutes, the Courier-Journal reported (opens in new tab).

According to the Courier-Journal (opens in new tab), police had a warrant to enter Taylor's home, which she shared with her boyfriend, Walker, without knocking or other signaling, but she was not the focus of a drug search. Instead, detectives claimed that the primary suspect, who was allegedly selling drugs at a house more than 10 miles from Taylor's home, used her address to receive the package. As reported by The New York Times (open in new tab), in the lawsuit filed by Palmer, the family's attorney stated that the suspect was already in custody by the night of Taylor's death.

Louisville police said that despite the "no-notice warrant," officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove identified themselves before breaking into Taylor and Walker's apartment, but the Courier-Journal reported that their family and neighbors said that was not true. Police also claimed that Walker opened fire after shooting one of the officers in the leg. Walker, however, said he believed someone was trying to break into the apartment and fired in self-defense. He was charged with attempted murder, according to a report in The New York Times, but the charges were later dropped.

Since Taylor's death, neither Mattingly, Hankison, nor Cosgrove have been arrested or fired, and all three are currently on administrative leave. Furthermore, none of the officers were wearing body cameras; according to CNN, the Louisville Police Department subsequently announced that all officers would be required to wear them.

On May 21, more than two months after Taylor's death, the FBI opened an investigation, and in a statement released by CNN (open in new tab), Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville FBI Robert Brown said, "The FBI will gather all available facts and evidence to ensure that the investigation is fair, thorough and impartial," he said. As the New York Times (opens in new tab) reports, protesters at ongoing demonstrations in Louisville are demanding that police be held accountable for Taylor's death. Protesters chanted last week, "No justice, no peace, prosecute the police."

Taylor's mother Palmer told the Courier-Journal (opens in new tab) that the Louisville police did not understand the gravity of their actions. 'I don't know if they understand what they have taken from my family. 'Not just me, but my family. This affected many of us, many of her friends."

Friday, June 5, would have been Taylor's 27th birthday. To continue the conversation about the ongoing case and to honor her life, author and cultural critic Kate Young (@BattyMamzelle on Twitter (opens in new tab)) has organized an official page (opens in new open in new tab) organized and created. Most of these can be done in less than a minute and have impactful results.

Here are other ways to demand justice:

Sign the petition for justice for Brenna Taylor.

Sign the second petition.

Donate to a fundraiser for Brenna Taylor's family and support their fight for justice.

Write and send a card in honor of Breanna to the offices of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Louisville Metro Mayor Greg Fisher. And if you are worried about getting them on time, don't stress. The important thing is that they get your message and know that we will not stop fighting.

Click here to watch Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's speech:

Attorney General's Office 700 Capital Avenue, Suite 118 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-3449

And here is the address of Louisville Metro Mayor Greg Fisher:

Mayor Greg Fisher 527 W Jefferson Street #600 Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Here's how to contact the Louisville Mayor's office (opens in new tab).

Click here to donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund (opens in new tab).

Use the hashtags #SayHerName and #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor on social media beginning Friday. Share her story and demand justice. Link to several petitions on this list to get people to sign in her honor.

Divide donations among national bail funds.

Donate to Black Lives Matter here (opens in new tab).

Sign Black Lives Matter's #DefundThePolice petition.

Click here to donate to Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of national black organizations (opens in new tab).