Only one other officer was previously punished for the unsuccessful operation.
The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department decided to fire two officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor at his apartment earlier this year.
Officer Myles Cosgrove and Detective Joshua Jaynes were notified of the termination on Tuesday, according to their lawyers. Both officers will respond to termination notices at a hearing before Deputy Yvette Gentry, who was appointed to the role in September on Thursday. They can also appeal the police chief’s final decision.
“We plan to attend the pre-termination hearing on December 31, although I hope the outcome has already been predetermined,” Jay Clay’s lawyer Thomas Clay told ABC News in a statement. “I expect Mr. Jaynes to be terminated after the ‘hearing’, no matter what the evidence is to the contrary. We will appeal any disciplinary action taken against Mr. Jaynes because I believe the evidence shows that he did not do anything wrong. . “
Jaynes was not present at the shooting, but prepared the search warrant for Taylor’s apartment.
The River City Police Fraternal Order in Louisville said in a statement: “The FOP is aware that two of our members have been given the opportunity to pre-terminate to respond to notifications today, outlining the chief’s current intention to terminate the In the near future, both members will have the opportunity to have a hearing with the chief of police and respond to the information contained in the notices. After these hearings, when the chief makes his final decisions, our members have the right to appeal any disciplinary action that may be taken. ”
Ballistic analysis determined that Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Taylor, officials said.
“I can confirm that Mr. Cosgrove has received prior notice of termination. Otherwise, we have no comment,” Cosgrove’s lawyer, Jarrod Beck, told ABC News.
Another officer involved in the operation, Brett Hankison, was fired in June. He had been the only officer punished after the failed raid.
Hankison was also indicted by a grand jury in September on three counts of first-degree dangerousness in the shooting that killed Taylor, but neither he nor the other two officers involved in the fatal encounter were charged with his death. Hankison was accused of shooting neighboring apartments.
He pleaded not guilty.
Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who also shot the apartment, was not fired by the department. Mattingly was shot in the leg during the operation.
“The mayor of Louisville informed Breonna Taylor’s mother that the LMPD intends to fire officers Cosgrove and Jaynes and that they both have the right to appeal,” a Taylor family lawyer told ABC News.
Jean Porter, deputy director of communications for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, said in a statement to ABC News: “LMPD chief Yvette Gentry has initiated disciplinary procedures for officers involved in the Breonna Taylor case after investigations by the Professional Standards Unit State law KRS67c .326 (1) (f) prevents comments from anyone in the Louisville subway government about the allegations in these cases. “
Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was killed when police officers executed an injunction on the house she shared with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, on March 13. The police were looking for Jamarcus Glover, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, who was reportedly a well-known drug dealer. Walker, who said he believed the house was being stolen, opened fire on the police. They responded to the fire, attacking and killing Taylor.
Walker, who owned a licensed gun, was initially charged with attempted murder, but was eventually abandoned. He sued the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department and the city of Louisville, claiming that he had the right to defend himself under state law. Mattingly filed a counter-action in late October.
The lack of discipline helped trigger months of protests in Kentucky and across the United States, especially after George Floyd’s death by police in Minneapolis in late May.
Jaynes was transferred to a new administrative assignment in June due to questions about how and why the search warrant was approved, said then-acting chief of police Robert Schroeder.
Stephanie Wash, Jennifer Leong, Sabina Ghebremedhin and Keturah Gray of ABC News contributed to this report.