Breonna Taylor Settlement Is a Record-Breaker

City will pay $12M to settle lawsuit
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 15, 2020 1:58 PM CDT
Louisville's Breonna Taylor Settlement Is 8 Figures
Signs are held up showing Breonna Taylor during a rally in her honor on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, June 25, 2020.   (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

The rumored amount is the final amount: The AP reports the city of Louisville will pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in her home on March 13. "I cannot begin to imagine Ms. Palmer’s pain, and I am deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna’s death," said Mayor Greg Fischer in announcing the settlement. He was referencing Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, who sued the city in April. The Courier Journal reports that it's a record-breaking amount, nearly 50% bigger than the then-record $8.5 million payout city made in 2012 in relation to an officer-involved shooting. Ben Crump, an attorney for Taylor's family, also notes it's the largest settlement made in the case of a Black woman killed by police.

And that's not all. Per WAVE3, "The settlement also makes history by including an unprecedented list of police reforms that LMPD now will be required to implement." Among them: changes to the way search warrants are approved and carried out. What a lawyer for Taylor's family had to say in a joint news conference with Fischer: "It's important to know here, a financial settlement was non-negotiable without police reform. Justice for Breonna is multi-layered. What we were able to accomplish ... is tremendous, but is only a portion of a single layer. We are not gonna stop our cause to hold the officers responsible for Breonna’s death accountable." The state's attorney general is investigating. (More Breonna Taylor stories.)

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