Louisville officer sues Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend for emotional distress, assault and battery

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was wounded by Kenneth Walker in the raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor's death.

Oct 30, 2020

Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly has filed a civil suit against Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

Mattingly, who was involved in the deadly March 13 no-knock raid on Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, was shot by Walker when he and two other Louisville Metro Police officers broke down her door. Walker claims the trio did not identify themselves as police and says he was defending his home when he wounded Mattingly in the leg.

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly (left), one of the three police officers involved in the deadly March 13 no-knock raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, is suing her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

“Walker’s conduct in shooting Mattingly is outrageous, intolerable, and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality,” the lawsuit said, citing one of the legal standards for intentional emotional distress.

Initially charged with attempted murder, Walker has consistently maintained that the officers, Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Det. Myles Cosgrove, did not identify themselves. During grand jury proceedings, over a dozen witnesses also said they did not hear the officers say they were police.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said one “independent” witness heard police identify themselves.

Taylor was shot dead by the officers, a slaying that has sparked protests and rocked the nation’s collective consciousness.

Walker’s attorney, Steve Romines, said that Walker is “immune from both criminal prosecution and civil liability as he was acting in self defense in his own home.”

He called Mattingly’s lawsuit a “baseless attempt to further victimize and harass” him.

Walker has filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department, in which it is alleged officers “threatened Kenny’s life, illegally detained Kenny, interrogated him under false pretenses, ignored his account as corroborated by neighbors, and arrested and jailed Kenny.”

Speaking for his client, Romines told CBS News in September that the police accounts didn’t add up.

“The bottom line is this,” he said. “On that night, Kenny Walker was 27 years old… Kenny had never been in trouble in his life. And the police want you to believe that at almost 1 o’clock one evening, he says, ‘My first foray into the criminal justice world, I’m gonna try to shoot a cop.’ It’s a ridiculous position.”

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