A former Kentucky police detective has pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of Breonna Taylor.
Kelly Goodlett, formerly with the Louisville Police Department, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in helping falsify an affidavit to justify the raid that led to Taylor’s killing at the hands of police in 2020.
She is the first of four charged law enforcement officials to be convicted in Taylor’s case. Ms Goodlett, who was previously released on a $10,000 bond, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine at her sentencing set for 22 November, the Courier-Journal reported.
She was ordered not to contact her codefendants, Sergeant Kyle Meany, and former detectives Joshua Jaynes, who are facing civil rights charges. Ms Goodlett is expected to be a witness in their trials.
Mr Jaynes is accused of saying a postal inspector had confirmed to him that Taylor was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, to justify the raid that ended in Taylor’s killing.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Ms Goodlett was fully aware that the information was false. The prosecution also said that Ms Goodlett then filed a false report to cover it up.
Meanwhile, former detective Brett Hankison is accused of violating the civil rights of Taylor, her boyfriend and three neighbours when he blindly fired ten shots in the apartment building, according to the prosecution. The two officers who fired at Taylor have not been charged.
Ms Goodlett, who unlike her former colleagues was not been indicted but charged on information, is expected to cooperate with DoJ prosecutors and testify against them.
The charges in early August came more than two years after the fatal shooting of Taylor, who was killed in her home during a botched police raid in March 2020. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker fired his legally owned arm when officers broke into the home to carry out a search warrant in a drug investigation.
Mr Walker hit one officer in the leg. He has said he thought an intruder had broken inside the apartment.
