Breonna Taylor's neighbors reach settlement in civil case against former LMPD officer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Breonna Taylor's neighbors at the time she was shot and killed reached a settlement agreement with the former Louisville Metro Police officer whose bullets riddled their apartments in March 2020 during a Louisville Metro Police raid.

Chelsey Napper and Cody Etherton sued Brett Hankison back in 2020. Hankison blindly fired shots into Taylor's apartment after her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired at police, thinking the couple was being robbed.

Some of Hankison's bullets went through walls, ending up in the neighboring apartment.

A court order filed Friday, Oct. 24, confirms a settlement was reached in the civil suit. The exact amount of the settlement is unknown. But according to court documents, it isn't more than $25,000.

In November 2024, a federal jury found Hankison guilty of violating Taylor's civil rights during a March 13, 2020, police raid of her home when he fired 10 shots into her apartment through a sliding glass door and window that were covered by blinds.

The shots nearly hit her and an officer as well, ripping through the wall into a neighboring apartment where a family and a child were sleeping.

The jury found Hankison not guilty of violating the civil rights of Taylor's neighbors.

The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump criticized the handling of Hankison's case by previous prosecutors and asked U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings to sentence him to one day of incarceration — already served when he was booked — and a three-year term of supervision. But that motion was denied.

In March 2020, Hankison shot through a covered window into Taylor's apartment during a raid. His shots didn't kill her. He's the only officer who was at the scene to be convicted.

Hankison is currently serving a 33-month sentence in a federal prison in New Jersey, where he reported earlier this month. His attorneys wanted the report date delayed while they appealed the conviction to a higher court, but that was denied by a federal judge.

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