A former Louisville police officers pleaded guilty to falsifying information on the search warrant that officers used to break down the door of Breonna Taylor, an action that led to Taylor being shot and killed by police, WPSD NBC-6 in Paducah, Kentucky reports.
Kelly Hannah Goodlett pleaded guilty to falsifying an affidavit, swearing that she spoke to a postal inspector who verified Taylor, a 26-year-old hospital technician, was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, a suspected drug dealer. Goodlett, in fact, got no such verification; postal inspectors later testified they gave no such statement to Goodlett and stated Taylor had received packages for her ex-boyfriend from the postal service.
The affidavit was the basis for a warrant–at first that was issued as a “no-knock” warrant but later altered for a standard search warrant. However, two armed Louisville officers breached the door of Taylor’s apartment. Only one person claimed to have heard officers announce themselves and pound on the door; more than a dozen neighbors said they heard no such announcement.
Taylor was shot when her boyfriend at the time, Kenneth Walker, fire one shot at the intruders, not knowing they were police, striking an officer. The officers returned fire, missing Walker but killing Taylor, who was unarmed. An officer who was at a patio outside Taylor’s bedroom fired wildly through closed blinds, sending round into a neighboring apartment.
Goodlett is expected to testify for the prosecution during the trials of the three other officers, who face charges relating to violating Taylor’s civil rights. She faces up to five years in prison when sentenced.