US city to pay $12 million to Breonna Taylor's family

The US city of Louisville, Kentucky will pay $12 million (€10 million) to the family of Breonna Taylor and reform police practices as part of a lawsuit settlement after she was killed by police in March, Mayor Greg Fischer announced on Tuesday.

As a part of the settlement, the city will implement "needed reforms to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again," he said at the Tuesday news conference with Taylor's family and civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

The reforms include a mandate for commanding officers to sign off on search warrants.

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"I cannot begin to imagine Ms. Palmer's pain, and I am deeply, deeply sorry for Breonna's death," Fischer said, referring to Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer.

Crump noted that the settlement was the largest amount paid in a wrongful-death settlement for a Black woman killed by police in the United States.

"We won't let Breonna Taylor's life be swept under the rug," he said.

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Taylor's mother also called for charges against the officers involved in the shootings. "As significant as today is, it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna," said Palmer.

"We must not lose focus on what the real drive is and with that being said, it's time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and much more."

The news conference was broadcast over a loudspeaker downtown, which people listened to as they sat around a memorial to Taylor.

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Taylor's death sparked months of protests in Louisville and nationwide calls for the officers involved to be criminally charged. The state's attorney general, Daniel Cameron, is investigating police actions in the March 13 shooting.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency-room technician, was shot eight times and killed by police who broke into her apartment to serve a no-knock narcotics warrant for someone else. Taylor and her boyfriend were taken out of bed by police, and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he fired once at the officers thinking it was an intruder.

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Investigators say police were returning fire when they shot Taylor.

Her killing, along with other high-profile cases such as George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police in May, has been instrumental in fueling a nationwide protest movement against police brutality and racism.

lc/dr (AFP, AP, dpa)