Judge, again, drops most serious charge against 2 ex-LMPD detectives in Breonna Taylor case
Former LMPD officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany.
By Alex Suckow
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A judge has ruled again to drop the most serious charges against two LMPD detectives for their roles in the Breonna Taylor case.
Taylor, 26, was fatally shot in March 2020 when a warrant brought police to her door.
Her boyfriend fired a shot as officers tried to enter the apartment, and then police returned fire.
More than two years later, now former LMPD officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany were charged with federal civil rights and obstruction offenses for their roles in preparing and approving the falsified search warrant that ultimately led police to her apartment the night she was killed in the botched raid.
This week, a judge dismissed the most serious felony, violating Taylor’s civil rights, which carried a sentence of life in prison.
The prosecution argued Taylor’s death was a direct result of the false warrant, but the judge disagreed.
The ruling from Judge Charles Simpson said, “(Her boyfriend) opened fire when they came through the door and hit one of the officers in the leg, thereby usurping the officers’ control over the circumstances.”
If this ruling sounds familiar, Simpson made a similar one this time last year. He dropped the felony civil rights charges, but there was a superseding indictment—a new indictment that replaces a previous one—in October 2024.
With the most recent ruling, Meany and Jaynes will still face other charges. Jaynes faces conspiracy and falsifying records, while Meany is charged with lying to the FBI.
No trial date has been set.
Brett Hankison was found guilty of violating Taylor’s civil rights, and was sentenced last month. Read more about that here.
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