Breonna Taylor
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A civil rights lawyer representing the family of slain EMT Breonna Taylor said Wednesday that Louisville police used a "vague" search warrant to enter her home during an early-morning raid in March in which officers fatally shot her.

"There seems nothing there to suggest that Ms. Taylor's home should have been the subject of a 'no-knock' warrant," attorney Ben Crump said during a press conference with reporters.

A search warrant affidavit made public Tuesday shows that Louisville Metro Police targeted Taylor's apartment on Springfield Drive off St. Anthony Church Road in part because they believe suspected drug dealer Jamarcus Glover had been receiving packages there.

In one instance, an officer claimed, police saw Glover pick up a parcel at her apartment in January and then drive to a "known drug house" on Muhammad Ali Boulevard in the Russell neighborhood.

"We're talking about one isolated incident where they claim to have surveillance of Jamarcus Glover leaving Breonna Taylor's house with one package in early January," said Sam Aguiar, a Louisville attorney who is working with Crump.

"The biggest question we have is that if all of a sudden the police are conducting surveillance on Jamarcus Glover, see him carrying a package that they think contains some sort of drugs -- then why in the world was he not pulled over right then and there?" Aguiar said.

He said Glover was stopped by police an average of once a month.

If police had reason to believe there were drugs at Taylor's apartment, Aguiar said, "then why in the world were they waiting until the middle of March to execute a one-time, no-knock drug raid? … It doesn't make sense," Aguiar said.

He characterized the warrant as "another wild goose chase to try to get drug dealers and other folks in Louisville and that Breonna Taylor got lumped right into the middle of it."

Attorneys say Glover had already been arrested when police shot and killed Taylor as they entered her apartment around 1 a.m. on March 13. Nothing illegal was found inside the home; Taylor, 26, had no criminal record.

She was shot at least eight times. 

Crump is a nationally recognized attorney who has specialized in police shootings of African Americans, including Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. He represents the family of Pamela Turner, a pregnant black woman whom an officer shot and killed last year in Baytown, Texas during a struggle over a taser.

In the Louisville case, police have said they identified themselves and repeatedly knocked on Taylor's door before using a battering ram to enter the unit, where they were met with gunfire.

A woman who lives next door said she woke up to the sound of gunshots and Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, yelling for help, according to an affidavit filed in court records. The woman said she never heard police announce themselves.

Police sought a 'no-knock' entry in the warrant "due to the nature of how these drug traffickers operate," including a history of trying to destroying evidence and fleeing from police.

There is no officer-worn body camera footage of the raid; police have said that unit doesn't wear the cameras. 

Jessie Halladay, a police spokeswoman, said those narcotics officers haven't been issued body cameras because they work undercover and in plain clothes.

Louisville police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The department typically does not speak on open investigations.

Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement this week that he has spoken with Police Chief Steve Conrad, who is "well aware of the need for a thorough investigation." Once that occurs, Fischer said, the case will be sent to the Commonwealth's Attorney's office.

"Police work can involve incredible difficult situations. Additionally, residents have rights," Fischer said. "These two concepts will and must be weighed by our justice system as the case proceeds."

During his virtual press conference Wednesday, Fischer sidestepped a number of questions about the Taylor incident, such as why no body camera footage exists, citing potential litigation against Metro government.

But the mayor said the routine LMPD Public Integrity Unit investigation started March 13, the day of the shooting, and its results will be referred to prosecutors for possible charges.

However, Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine will recuse himself from the case because his office is prosecuting Walker's case, according to a letter from Wine's office that requests a special prosecutor to review the Public Integrity Unit's investigation.  

"Mr. Wine believes that our office is conflicted from reviewing the LMPD Public Integrity Unit investigation," the letter says. 

The mayor said his office will talk with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron about next steps. Fischer said that it's possible he could green-light an independent investigation of the shooting.

"We all want to get to the same place, and that is to get to the truth as quickly as we possibly can," Fischer said.

Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement issued Wednesday that Taylor's family "and the public at large deserve the full facts regarding her death."

"The commonwealth’s attorney, the U.S. attorney and the Kentucky attorney general should carefully review the results of the initial investigation to ensure justice is done at a time when many are concerned that justice is not blind," Beshear said in the statement. 

Former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California, called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Taylor's death in a tweet Wednesday. 

"Her family deserves answers," Harris said in the tweet, which contained an excerpt from a recent interview with NBC News. In the interview, the senator incorrectly states that police were "at the wrong place trying to serve a warrant." 

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, said in a statement issued Wednesday that the reports of Taylor's death are "deeply troubling and deserve the most thorough review they can be given."

The name of the judge who authorized the warrant on March 12 is not legible.

Crump said the warrant "on its face is so vague."

"It seems like the police just offered a lot of generality and got permission to do things that if it was another community, another household in a more affluent community, lightning would strike and thunder would roll."

Reporters Chris Otts and Kristen Shanahan and Digital Producer Brooks Holton contributed. 

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