According to Kenny Walker, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend and the only witness to her killing at the hands of police in Louisville, Ky., there may have actually been time to save her life after officers shot her multiple times.
In a first-of-its-kind joint interview with Walker, Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer, and sister Ju’Niyah Palmer on Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talk,” Walker takes viewers through the events that occurred on the night of March 13, 2020, in which police carried out a botched no-knock-raid of their apartment, shooting Taylor six times in the process and killing her.
Photo: Jordan Fisher
Just after midnight on March 13, 2020, Walker said he and Taylor were startled by loud banging on their apartment door. After both called out to ask who was there and received no response, just more banging, Walker grabbed his gun. As the two scrambled to dress and answer the door, the officers on the other side began to break it down. Walker, exercising his rights in a stand-your-ground state, fired one warning shot. In response, the police, still without announcing themselves, fired over 30 rounds into their apartment, striking Taylor.
Walker’s confusion that evening was only just beginning. Immediately after Taylor was struck, Walker called her mother and his own, who advised he call the police for help. Even at this point, it was still unclear who was on the other side of the door.
“I called the police, you know, so I’m thinking, they’re here to help,” he told his “Red Table Talk” hosts. “I heard them yelling outside to come out, so, I’m like…I’m a Black man in America. I’m not gonna go out there trying to explain too much of anything.”
Walker continued to describe the fear he felt emerging from the apartment.
“I’m like, the only way for her to possibly even get some help is if I go outside, so either they’re gonna shoot and kill me and then they come help her, or they’re gonna talk to me and then they’ll come help her. Either way, I have to go outside,” he said.
Throughout the ensuing evening, Walker said officers on the scene ignored his requests for information and his pleas for them to assist Taylor, stating they were short with him and lacked compassion. At one point, an officer may have even chuckled as he stepped over Taylor’s body, Walker alleged. Based on eyewitness video footage taken by a neighbor, it took 30 minutes from the time the raid began for an EMT to even check on Taylor.
Encouraging Walker to tell his story, Pinkett-Smith reminded him it’s an important way to process the loss and release the rage.
“Oh, I know that, too. I never got to. ‘Cause I was, of course, in jail, like, immediately after,” Walker responded.
Early on in the interview, Walker noted how normal a day the two had shared before that tragic night. They had gone out to eat and were relaxing at home; he remembers dozing off in bed together with the movie “Freedom Writers” playing.
“The day didn’t begin so tragic. Neither one of us could have ever imagined it ending the way it did. It was a normal day,” he said.
Walker, who was arrested that evening before being updated on Taylor’s condition, wound up serving a year in prison on charges of assaulting an officer and the attempted murder of a police officer. His charges were eventually cleared, but as a result, he missed Taylor’s funeral and memorial services held in her honor.
In the “Red Table Talk” interview, which runs just over 50 minutes, Walker, along with Taylor’s mother and sister, reveals more shocking details and discusses the aftermath of losing Taylor. Social justice activist Tamika Mallory, attorneys Benjamin Crump and Lonita Baker, and CNN’s Laura Coates also make appearances, explaining what’s next in pursuing justice for Taylor.
In August, the four Louisville officers involved in Taylor’s killing were federally charged in the deadly raid. Joshua Jaynes, Kyle Meany, Brett Hankison, and Kelly Goodlett were charged with civil rights violations, conspiracy, use of excessive force offenses, and obstruction. According to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, charging documents state three of the officers, Jaynes, Meany, and Goodlett, lied in order to obtain a warrant they used to search Taylor’s apartment in an act that both violated federal civil rights laws and led to Taylor’s death.
Kay Wicker is a lifestyle writer for theGrio covering health, wellness, travel, beauty, fashion, and the myriad ways Black people live and enjoy their lives. She has previously created content for magazines, newspapers, and digital brands.
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