For the first time in the nearly five years since Breonna Taylor’s death, a former police officer has been sentenced to prison time in connection with the fatal 2020 raid that triggered national protests and intensified calls for police reform.
On Monday, former Louisville officer Brett Hankison, 49, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and an additional three years of supervised probation for violating Taylor’s civil rights.
Though his bullets did not strike Taylor, Hankison fired 10 rounds blindly into her apartment during a botched narcotics raid on March 13, 2020—contributing to the chaos that led to Taylor’s death at age 26.
Tamika Palmer Speaks Out
Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, called the sentence “a start,” though she expressed disappointment over what she saw as a lack of meaningful prosecution by the Department of Justice under the Trump administration.
“It wasn’t justice, but I got essentially what I started out for, which was jail time,” Palmer said in an emotional interview with CNN’s Laura Coates. “There was no prosecution in there for Breonna.”
Palmer sharply criticized federal prosecutors for recommending just one day in jail, a sentence she described as a betrayal of the jury’s decision and the broader fight for accountability.
“I felt as if [the prosecutor] should have been sitting next to Brett Hankison,” she added, accusing the DOJ of working to secure the “least amount of time as possible.”
Judge Rebukes DOJ’s “Incongruous” Sentencing Request
During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings rebuked the Justice Department’s request for a one-day sentence, calling it “not appropriate.” She added that the Trump-era DOJ memo treated Hankison’s conduct as “an inconsequential crime” and failed to reflect the severity of the situation.
The DOJ’s sentencing memo had argued that Hankison’s shots, though reckless, did not injure anyone, and claimed he would likely face mistreatment in prison as a former law enforcement officer. The memo also cited his prior acquittals in 2022 and 2023, where state and federal juries failed to convict him on related charges.
Despite these previous outcomes, a federal jury found Hankison guilty in 2024 of violating Breonna Taylor’s constitutional rights by endangering her and her neighbors during the raid.
A Symbol of Racial Injustice
Breonna Taylor’s death, alongside that of George Floyd, became a flashpoint in the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020, sparking global protests over police brutality and systemic racism.
While two other officers fired the fatal shots after Taylor’s boyfriend opened fire, those officers have not been charged. Prosecutors have maintained that their use of force was legally justified.
Still, many civil rights advocates argue that justice has been delayed and diluted.
“The prosecution’s role was an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury’s decision,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has long represented the Taylor family.
What Comes Next
Brett Hankison will be barred from ever working in law enforcement again.
The Justice Department is continuing to pursue other cases related to the raid. Former officer Kelly Goodlett is scheduled for sentencing next year after pleading guilty to falsifying the search warrant affidavit used to authorize the raid on Taylor’s apartment.
Meanwhile, Tamika Palmer remains resolute.
“I feel like we got something,” she said. “I don’t think it was a fair sentencing, but it was a start.”
