Louisville, KY — Ben Crump and his co-counsel members of Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker held a press conference today with family members of Breonna Taylor at the Louisville Mayor’s Office. Lousiville’s Mayor Greg Fischer announced the city will be paying the Taylor family a $12 million settlement for the death of Breonna. During the press conference, Mayor Fischer also stated a number of police reforms will be instituted to settle the wrongful death lawsuit.
The Taylor’s team of attorneys stated the following on the civil suit settlement:
“Nothing will ever bring back the precious life or fill the bottomless void left by the death of Breonna for her family or her community, which she served as a frontline emergency worker. But this settlement, with the accompanying police reforms, sends a powerful signal to the community that Breonna’s life and her death will have long-term impact, hopefully preventing the loss of other Black lives. The significance is not just the historic $12 million settlement for the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, but also the comprehensive police reform agreed to by Mayor Greg Fischer and the Louisville Metro City Council. In the many cases I have represented involving police brutality — from George Floyd and Jacob Blake to Pamela Turner — I have never seen the level of responsive, comprehensive systemic reform that has occurred here under the leadership of Mayor Fischer in just six months. We credit Mayor Fischer and the city council for their tremendous leadership in bringing progress and reform out of tragedy. This is an important step toward justice more than six months after Breonna’s death. We continue to urge Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to convene a grand jury and charge the involved officers immediately.”
In a report by CNN, it was stated the city will ‘establish a housing credit program to incentivize officers to live in the areas they serve; use social workers to provide support on certain police runs; and require commanders to approve search warrants before seeking judicial approval, among other changes.
Although this settlement comes more than six months after the murder of Breonna, Tamika Palmer — her mother — doesn’t want her name to be forgotten as they continue to push for criminal charges against the three officers responsible for Taylor’s death.
“Her beautiful spirit and personality is working through all of us on the ground, so please continue to say her name: Breonna Taylor,” Palmer stated at the press conference.
