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The Department of Justice has requested that a federal judge drop charges against two former officers involved in the Louisville incident that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Breonna Taylor, an African American woman, was fatally shot by Louisville police officers during the execution of a warrant at her apartment in March 2020.
In August 2022, the DOJ charged officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, accusing them of using excessive force, fabricating information to justify the search of Taylor’s home, and attempting to conceal their actions. Both officers were subsequently dismissed from their positions following these allegations.
Taylor’s death, followed closely by the killing of George Floyd, an African American man in Minneapolis, sparked a wave of national protests and widespread condemnation of systemic police brutality.
In previous court documents, Jaynes and Meany contended that they were not present at the raid that led to Taylor’s death. The motion for dismissal, penned by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Keenan, highlighted that the court had already reduced several of the charges against the officers.
The DOJ made similar moves last May to drop a lawsuit accusing the Louisville Police Department of unconstitutional policing practices. They also requested a one-day sentence for another Louisville officer convicted in connection with Taylor’s death last July.
“In light of the foregoing proceedings, the Government undertook a further review of this matter. Based on that review, and in the exercise of its discretion, the Government has determined that this case should be dismissed in the interest of justice,” Dhillon and Keenan wrote in the dismissal.
Meany’s attorney, Michael Denbow, told the Courier Journal on Friday that Meany is “incredibly grateful for today’s filing” and was “looking forward to putting this matter behind him and moving on with his life.”
Jayne’s lawyer, Thomas Clay, affirmed to the Courier Journal that Jaynes “did absolutely nothing wrong.”
“The Department of Justice’s request is not only callous but deeply disrespectful to the memory of Breonna Taylor and to her family, who have waited six long years for justice,” the NAACP’s Louisville Branch said in a statement. “This action sends a troubling message and risks undermining public trust in our justice system.”