Hankison, 47, now faces a potential life sentence after being convicted of using excessive force in the incident that led to Taylor’s death, though he was acquitted on a separate charge of violating a neighbour’s civil rights.
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This verdict marks the first conviction of any officer involved in the deadly March 13 raid that became a focal point for racial justice protests across the U.S. that year.
Taylor’s family members wept in the courtroom as the verdict was announced on Friday, according to The Louisville Courier Journal. Prosecutors requested that Hankison be immediately detained, but the judge denied this request.
The jury, comprised of five white men, one Black man, and six white women, began deliberating on Wednesday.
Hankison had been indicted for depriving Taylor of her right to be free from unreasonable seizure and violating her neighbours’ right to liberty without due process.
During the raid, Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment, claiming he was acting to protect fellow officers after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot when officers forcibly entered.
This was Hankison’s third trial related to the case, and he is the first of the four officers charged to face a jury.
Another former officer, Kelly Goodlett, previously admitted to falsifying the search warrant, while federal charges against two other officers were dismissed earlier this year before being refiled by the U.S. Justice Department.
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The tragic incident began when officers, wearing plain clothes, executed a “no-knock” warrant at Taylor’s apartment, suspecting her ex-boyfriend of concealing narcotics there. Walker, who was asleep with Taylor when the officers entered, fired a shot, believing they were intruders. In response, the officers returned fire with 32 bullets, resulting in Taylor’s death.
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