Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, the unarmed Black woman gunned down by Louisville police officers in her own home, is speaking out about the toll her fight for justice is taking on her and her family.
During an interview with The Independent, Palmer reveals the impact Taylor’s death has had on her daughter, Juniyah, who is 20.
“She’s had to become this activist, this person who’s fighting constantly against the world. It’s sad because she doesn’t get to be her 20-year-old-self. I feel a little of who she may have wanted to be has become lost in this,” she said. “So I have to make sure that she doesn’t become a Breonna Taylor. It was just a very unfortunate thing and no family should have to go through it so.”
A grand jury declined to charge any of the three officers involved in Taylor’s killing with homicide. The decision sparked outrage before an anonymous juror filed a motion to be allowed to speak on the proceedings. In the filing, they revealed that the option to charge any of the officers for homicide was never given to them by Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron.
Last month, Taylor’s family was awarded a $12 million settlement from the city of Lousiville.
“With this settlement I got, there was a lot of reform that I wanted to include, [but] that was just the beginning. There’s still a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of policies that still need to be changed. And so I have to become a part of that,” she said.
The entire process has left Palmer drained, but the fight for justice continues.
“It’s wiped so much out of me. I don’t really have a lot of strength most days. I am still trying to figure it out,” she said. “I just feel like a hostage in my own thoughts most of the time.”
Click here to read the full interview.
