Breonna Taylor’s Black Neighbor Speaks Out About Deadly Shots Fired In His Apartment
People demanding justice for Breonna Taylor are eagerly awaiting for the grand jury records to be released, which Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has delayed. Now, Taylor’s neighbor, who happens to Black, is speaking out and wants to know why the cops weren’t charged for shooting into his apartment.
According to USA Today, Stanley David bullets were fired into his apartment with himself, his 7-year-old daughter and his 75-year-old mother all inside. David’s apartment was above Taylor’s.
David, who is originally from Liberia, said, “My apartment was hit too. The bullet that came through my floor right in front of my bedroom door, if that bullet went through my bed, maybe I would have been dead too. I’m a human being too.”
He also said about the unsubstantiated rumors that the 26-year-old EMT worker was involved in drug dealing, “Breonna was nobody like they claim. For as long as I knew her, I didn’t see anybody coming there with anything like that. There weren’t people coming in and out. It was only she and her boyfriend.”
As for the officers not being charged with her death, he said, “I don’t think that’s right. Breonna was not doing drugs, and she got killed for nothing. She never had a gun. She did not shoot any shots.”
For months, his family was questioned by authorities and they eventually moved out of the apartment.
A grand jury returned three counts of “wanton endangerment” in the first degree against former officer Brett Hankinson for firing into another apartment, which happened to be Taylor’s white neighbor. A $15,000 cash bond was also attached to the charges.
The other two officers, Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove, were not charged and remain on the force. Hankinson was fired in July.
The attorneys for Taylor’s family have been demanding Cameron to release the transcript of the grand jury.
After midnight on March 13, Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly executed a botched “no-knock” warrant at Taylor's apartment (although the Kentucky Attorney General claimed the warrant was not a no-knock warrant and the police did announce their presence prior to barging into the apartment) which she shared with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker. Believing they were intruders, Walker fired his weapon and gunfire from the officers ensued. The 26-year old Taylor was struck six times and died.
The police raid found no drugs at Taylor’s apartment and she was not the target of the investigation. Rather, it was her ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover who police were after. Glover had been arrested earlier that same night.
BET has been covering every angle of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other social justice cases and the subsequent aftermath and protests. For our continuing coverage, click here.
