While one man fights to maintain his innocence, another is fighting to be repaid, for a crime the law says did not occur. So far.
Kenneth Walker’s survival of the March 2020 police shooting that killed his girlfriend, Breonna Taylor, may be the only reason the country knows her name. But what Kenneth Walker was trying to do, that night in Louisville, was to protect her.
Here is a 2020 New York Times video article that literally illustrated new details of how events transpired.
Officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department opened fire after Kenneth Walker did, and after they forced open Breonna’s apartment door with a battering ram. Walker fired one shot at who he thought were intruders. He maintains that he and Breonna heard no announcement of police presence. The officers serving the search warrant maintain that they heard no answers from within the apartment, before forcing their way in. Both sides, on either end of a two-bedroom apartment, claimed to be yelling at each other through an exterior door, but nobody heard anything.
After Breonna Taylor was fatally shot, and after Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly was rushed to the hospital with a severed femoral artery, Walker was arrested and charged for attempted murder of a police officer, and assault. But two months later, the charges were dropped.
As reported in “Thirteenth of March”, Walker’s charges were dropped without prejudice in May 2020, but that effectively means that his charges can be reopened in further investigation. In September of that year, prior to the Kentucky Attorney General’s announcement of the police officers’ charges, Walker filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Government and the police department, for immunity against his charges, citing Kentucky’s “Stand Your Ground” law and castle doctrine. Walker is a licensed gun owner with no prior criminal record. He is also seeking damages, for what he suffered after his girlfriend’s death, and his arrest, at the hands of the police.
The Louisville Metro Government settled a $12 million civil suit with Breonna’s family, in September 2020 as well.
But in late October, Jon Mattingly, in turn, filed a lawsuit against Kenneth Walker, for compensation of “battery, assault, and distress”, including “severe trauma and mental anguish.” Sgt. Mattingly underwent emergency surgery for his injury, and found himself reassigned from his position, while he was under investigation by the department’s internal affairs office, the state, and the FBI. And three months after the shooting, when Breonna Taylor’s story had received national exposure in the heat of the George Floyd protests, his family became the target of death threats and harassment. He did retain his employment until he opted to retire the next year, and he was not brought up on any charges for his part in the shooting.
So at this point, neither man is under charges for any crime, for their roles in the shooting that night. The question becomes, will they trust the same justice system that declared them innocent, to prove that the other is guilty?
As of 2022, both lawsuits continue. A federal judge ruled in February that Kenneth Walker’s suit could proceed, after motions were made to dismiss. He is now individually suing the three officers who discharged their weapons on the night of the raid, as well as the detective who submitted the affidavit for the warrant, which included false information. None of the officers are still employed with the LMPD, but the suit also names others still employed by the Louisville Metro Government as of February 2022. Jon Mattingly also filed a defamation suit against Kenneth Walker’s attorney, for statements he made to the press.
On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Justice Department announced the conclusion of the FBI’s investigation into Breonna’s death. “Thirteenth of March, Part Four”, will be published soon.
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