BREONNA TAYLOR

Cop who fatally shot Breonna Taylor wants his job back. Here's when he'll make his case

Tessa Duvall
Louisville Courier Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The former Louisville Metro Police detective who fatally shot Breonna Taylor in her apartment last year will soon argue the case as to why he should get his job back.

Myles Cosgrove, who was fired from LMPD in January for failing to "properly identify a target" when he shot 16 rounds into Taylor's home, will appear before the Louisville Metro Police Merit Board over five days in November and December.

The hearing will begin Nov. 9-10, and continue Dec. 13-15. All dates are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The FBI concluded Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Taylor, hitting her pulmonary artery. She was 26.

In a letter laying out her reasons for firing Cosgrove, former interim Chief Yvette Gentry said his rounds sprayed the apartment without being clear at what he was shooting.

"The shots you fired went in three distinctly different directions, demonstrating that you did not identify a specific target," Gentry wrote. "Rather, you fired in a manner consistent with suppressive fire, which is in direct contradiction to our training, values and policy."

Louisville Metro Police Det. Myles Cosgrove

Cosgrove faces a steep battle to get his job back. Since 2015, eight officers — including another detective fired for his role in the Taylor case — have appealed their terminations. They all lost.

No one has been criminally charged for Taylor's death.

While LMPD fired Cosgrove over the shooting, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he and then-Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly were justified in returning fire because Tayor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired his weapon first.

Walker has maintained he thought intruders were breaking in, and all criminal charges against him for shooting Mattingly were permanently dropped in March.

Cosgrove lambasted LMPD leadership in an all-staff email after his firing, saying they had caved in to "political pressures."

"Think about that the next time you put on the uniform and badge," Cosgrove said. "For those of you still doing real police work, it's just a matter of time till you (too) will be a sacrificial lamb. I plead with you, do nothing."

A second detective, Joshua Jaynes, was fired alongside Cosgrove for lying on the search warrant that led police to Taylor's apartment that night.

Jaynes has maintained he did not provide untruthful information on the warrant and also appealed to return to LMPD, but the board unanimously upheld his firing 4-0. He has since filed suit in Jefferson Circuit Court to challenge the board's findings.

LMPD fired a third detective, Brett Hankison, in June 2020 for "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment through a covered door and window. Some of those rounds entered an adjacent apartment with three people inside, resulting in three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for Hankison.

Hankison has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His trial is currently set for Feb. 1, 2022 in Jefferson County. He's also appealing to get back on the police force, but will not go before the board until after the conclusion of the criminal case.

Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall.