It’s been more than a year since Breonna Taylor was killed by police gunfire in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, but her memory lives on. On what would’ve been her 28th birthday Saturday, friends and family are celebrating her life.
Tyrone Bell, Taylor’s uncle, told People that it is “bittersweet” seeing her face remembered by the culture on shirts, murals and social media.
“At the same time, it’s like, ‘Wow, look at baby.’ But then it’s like, ‘Why did it have to be like this for her to be known like that?’ But she is making a difference in the world, so I guess some positivity can come out of it,” he said.
Bell had moved to Kentucky following Taylor’s death. He says that she had tried to get him to relocate closer to the family after she had treated him in 2019 at a Michigan hospital where she was an emergency room technician.
“She just kept saying, ‘You got to move down here with us,'” Bell said. “‘Come on as soon as you get out of the hospital. We got to take care of you.'”
READ MORE: Officer shouldn’t have shot into Breonna Taylor’s apartment, internal probe finds
Trina Curry says that’s the kind of woman she was: very involved with the family.
“She was the rock to hold everyone together,” said Curry, Taylor’s cousin. “So it’s been very challenging with her being gone.”
“When I see her, I see strength, I see power,” Curry said. “I see love, I see compassion. I see someone that would just go to the end of the world and fight whatever battles for her family. She was that. She was beautiful.”
READ MORE: Louisville officer involved in Breonna Taylor’s death retiring, to receive full pension
Taylor died after police opened fire into her apartment after serving a “no-knock” search warrant on her home on March 13, 2020. Taylor died after being struck six times, but the officers involved were not charged for her death. Her death initially led to several protests for justice for Taylor, and today, her likeness is still present in murals and t-shirts.
The death of Taylor has brought more eyes to the injustices Black Americans face from law enforcement. According to the Associated Press, a federal investigation into Taylor’s death by the U.S. Department of Justice was announced last March.
“The civil rights investigation will turn the whole situation upside-down,” said Cynthia Deitl, former head of the civil rights unit for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “You look at everything — everything the officers ever learned.”
Deitl has previously overseen probes into police-involved shooting incidents and insists that patience is needed for such federal investigations into civil rights violations.
“It’s frustrating for the public, but what I always try to tell the victim’s family is: I know you’re antsy; I know you want an answer from us today,” Deitl said. “But what you really want is an honest and truthful and very thorough investigation, and that’s going to take time.”
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