Officials in Louisville called the claims made by the family and attorneys a “gross mischaracterization."
A new claim has emerged from the family of Breonna Taylor, who says the 25-year-old EMT was still alive following the shooting at her apartment on March 13, but was not given aid, according to a new court filing obtained by The New York Times.
Taylor's family reportedly claims in the filing that she lay dying from five gunshot wounds in her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment for up to six minutes and was not given medical aid.
Officials in Louisville called the claims made by the family and attorneys a “gross mischaracterization.” “Even if it had happened outside of an ER, we couldn’t have saved her,” coroner Dr. Barbara Weakley-Jones, the coroner who performed the autopsy on Breonna, according to the Times.
“Due to the ongoing investigation and pending litigation, we are unable to comment on this," the Louisville Metro Police Department told Inside Edition Digital in a statement.
State officials reject the new claim as well, saying that the police were tending to officer John Mattingly, who was shot in the leg during the incident, and that they were waiting for Walker to surrender before they could go in. Officials say that since the shooting occurred in the dark of night, they didn’t know that Taylor was injured, the Times reports.
The 31-page filing came Sunday and amends an earlier lawsuit against the three officers who fired into the apartment while executing a “no-knock” search warrant in the early morning hours of March 13.
The amended lawsuit, obtained by The New York Times, says that the raid was motivated by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s desire to clear a block in one of Louisville’s most troubled areas, which Taylor and boyfriend, Kenneth Walker lived, for redevelopment as part of a gentrification plan.
Fischer has not responded to Inside Edition Digital’s request for comment.
However, in a statement to New York Times, Jean Porter, a spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer, called the claims, “outrageous allegations without foundation.”
City officials pointed out that the project was no secret and was funded with the help of three federal grants of more than $30 million, and began more than six years ago, the Times reported.
In documentation previously obtained by the Louisville Courier-Journal, police were authorized to carry out a “no-knock” warrant on Taylor’s home on March 13 as part of a narcotics investigation on a home ten miles away. Neither Taylor nor her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were the investigation's target. Police had suspected, though, that Taylor’s home was used to receive drugs.
Authorities initially said they identified themselves despite the “no-knock” warrant. Police said the officers were “immediately” met by gunfire when they entered Taylor and Walker's home, at which point they returned fire.
But Taylor's family said in their original lawsuit filed against the three officers involved that Taylor and her boyfriend were home in bed and thought they were being burglarized when officers showed up at their home after midnight. Walker allegedly opened fire on cops with his licensed weapon and one officer was shot in the leg, police said. The lawsuit says police then fired more than 20 rounds into the home “blindly.”
Walker called 911 during the ordeal and he was informed him he’d shot an officer. He was initially charged with attempted murder, but his charges were later dropped.
In the wake of Taylor's death, the city has banned "no-knock" warrants.
In June, Officer Brett Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department. Officer Myles Cosgrove and John Mattingly have been reassigned. None of the officers have been arrested or charged in Taylor’s death.
There has so far been no response filed to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor's family, the Jefferson Circuit Court said. The attorney representing Hankison, Cosgrove, and Mattingly declined to comment to Inside Edition Digital on the amended lawsuit.
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