Louisville police are about to fire two of the agents involved in the raid that led to the Breonna Taylor shooting in March, agents’ lawyers confirmed on Tuesday. Detective Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who opened fire during the raid, and Detective Josh Jaynes, who received the search warrant for Taylor’s house, have both received cancellation letters, their attorneys said.
Jaynes’ letter for termination, signed by interim police chief Yvette Gentry, accuses him of lying about the search warrant application, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CBS News. In the filing, Jaynes alleged that he had received information from a US postal inspector that Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, had received suspicious packages at Taylor’s apartment.
According to Gentry’s letter, that information was “untrue”. The letter claims that Jaynes lied about that information from a postal inspector, when in fact it came from LMPD Sergeant John Mattingly, who himself heard it from “ a Shively Police Officer. ”
According to CBS affiliate WLKY-TV, Jaynes was asked in May by a Public Integrity Unit investigator whether he had deliberately tricked the judge into getting the warrant approved.
“I could have phrased a little differently there,” Jaynes heard in a taped interview. “But I try to be so – so (unintelligible) as detailed. Or sometimes it’s good not to be so detailed.”
LMPD
Gentry’s letter also claims that Jaynes did not complete the necessary search warrant operation plan on or before March 13, the day of the raid that resulted in Taylor’s death.
“Because the operation plan was not properly completed, a very dangerous situation arose for all parties involved,” the letter reads. “You were the officer who conducted most of the investigation, but neither you, your immediate supervisor, nor his lieutenant were or were available on the scene when the warrant was executed.”
Attorney Thomas Clay, who represents Jaynes, told CBS News that Jaynes had not personally drafted the surgery plan.
“This plan has been discussed on several levels,” Clay said. There was a final briefing with a LMPD Lieutenant Colonel present. So if there were errors in this plan, they should have been brought to light by the supervisors who reviewed the plan. ”
Clay also told CBS News that a representative from the mayor’s office attended the final briefing just before the raid.
Clay called the allegations of untruth “completely unfounded.”
Jaynes will have the opportunity to defend herself in a meeting with Gentry and “selected staff” on Thursday morning, Gentry wrote in the letter. Clay indicated that he will attend that meeting.
CBS News did not review a prior termination letter for Cosgrove, but his attorney confirmed to WLKY-TV that his client had received one. The lawyer made no further comment.
A spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department said it could not comment on the matters, citing the internal investigation.
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Former police officer Brett Hankison was earlier laid off for his role in raid. He is the only officer charges as a result of the raid, although he was not directly charged with Taylor’s death. Hankison was instead charged with three counts of willful danger for firing into a neighboring apartment. He has advocated not guilty.
Gentry took over as interim police chief in October after former Chief Steve Conrad was fired after the deadly shooting by police from David McAtee, a black man who owned a barbecue restaurant in Louisville.
Taylor was shot when police carried out a search warrant at her home in connection with a drug case. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, alleges that the police never announced themselves and that he shot them when they smashed the apartment door with a battering ram.
Walker injured Mattingly and the police fired back and killed Taylor. No illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
Lonita Baker, a lawyer for Breonna Taylor’s family, welcomed the department’s decision to fire the two agents, but made it clear that her clients wanted to see more criminal charges in addition to the layoffs.
“Sergeant Gentry has done what she has the power to do
with these officers, ending them. And so the fact that they wouldn’t return to patrol the streets of Louisville, Kentucky is a step in the right direction, ”Baker told CBS News.
However, she made it clear that “in an ideal world, all officers would be charged on this point and all officers, including Sergeant Mattingly, would be fired.”
Baker said she and her clients believed that “the actions alleged in the termination letters, which we have seen we have evidence of, are also sufficient to bring criminal charges” against Cosgrove.
Victoria Albert and Erin Donoghue contributed to the reporting.