Breonna Taylor case should be investigated by feds, governor says

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on Thursday called for the federal investigation of the Louiseville police shooting of EMT worker Breonna Taylor.

In an official statement shared by his Twitter account, Gov. Beshear said “The public reports concerning the death of Breonna Taylor are troubling. Her family and the public at large deserve the full facts regarding her death.”

READ MORE: Breonna Taylor’s family files lawsuit claiming ‘botched’ raid by Kentucky police

Beshear, who is former attorney general, said prosecutors at the local, state and federal level “should carefully review the results of the initial investigation.” He also noted that doing so is important because “many are concerned that justice is not blind.”

The Democratic governor joins a growing number of community members and activists who have called for Taylor’s home shooting on March 13 to be investigated. Taylor, 26, was shot 8 times by police during what her family in a lawsuit called “a botched” raid at her apartment.

Police allege they opened fire after Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker, 27, fired a shot in what he said was in self-defense. The police reacted by firing more than 20 shots into the home. Taylor, a qualified EMT who worked at two local hospitals, died at the scene.

READ MORE: Ben Crump to represent family of Breonna Taylor after fatal police raid

“Shots were blindly fired by the officers all throughout Breonna’s home,” Taylor family claims in a lawsuit. “Breonna had posed no threat to the officers and did nothing to deserve to die at their hands.”

Ben Crump, the powerful civil rights attorney, stated what he believed happened that fateful day.

“There are witnesses who are her neighbors … nobody heard the police announcing themselves,” Crump said. “This was a botched execution of a search warrant where they already had the person they were searching for in custody.”

Crump, who is also serving as counsel for the Ahmaud Arbery family, has continued to seek justice and bring awareness to Taylor’s death. He told the New York Daily News on Tuesday that he is demanding the release of the 911 tape.

“We’re asking that they release the 911 call and release the warrant,” Crump said Tuesday. “This family wants to know the honest truth, how police could execute an innocent, beautiful young lady whose mother says was one of the brightest lights in the world. She loved helping people.”

Crump also took issue with Walker being arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder on a police officer as LMPD Sgt. John Mattingly was struck in the leg. Crump insisted that Walker was a licensed gun permit who acted within his rights.

theGrio’s Stephanie Guerilus contributed to this report.