Breonna Taylor's family is 'heartbroken' over one-day sentence recommendation for ex-cop
The Department of Justice said last week that former Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison — who was convicted of deprivation of rights under color of law in November — did not need to face jail time and should be sentenced to a single day in prison since he poses no threat to the public.
Hankison is due to be sentenced on Monday afternoon in Louisville, and Taylor's family is urging the judge in the case to ignore the DOJ recommendation and impose a tougher sentence.
"The family asked for one thing: that Brett Hankison be sentenced in accordance with the law and federal guidelines. Instead, Tamika Palmer is left, once again, heartbroken and angry," attorneys for Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, including Ben Crump, Lonita Baker, and Sam Aguiar, said in a Sunday statement.
Federal prosecutors said Hankison fired through a window and a sliding glass door that was covered with a curtain and blinds. The shots hit a wall and traveled into an apartment next door, but did not hit Taylor.
Taylor was killed by shots from other officers, who were not charged because they were returning fire when Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired as police breached the apartment.
In the Sunday statement, Taylor's lawyers called Hankison's sentence recommendation an "insult" that sets a "dangerous precedent" in how civil rights or Black people are maintained.
"It is unfathomable that, after finally securing a conviction, the Department of Justice would seek a sentence so drastically below the federal guidelines," the statement added.
The legal team said that recommending a single day in prison "sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity."
The attorneys said Palmer still hopes that the judge will "do what the DOJ has refused to do — uphold the law, respect the jury's verdict, and deliver true justice for Breonna Taylor."
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