4/24/23 by Colette Lauture
Former Louisville police officer Myles Cosgrove, who fired the fatal shot that killed Breonna Taylor, has been hired as a deputy in a county northeast of the city. His hiring was confirmed Saturday by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. Cosgrove was previously fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in Jan. 2021 for violating use-of-force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylor’s apartment, according to WHAS-TV.
About a dozen people gathered in downtown Carrollton on Monday, protesting his hiring by holding signs and chanting “Cosgrove has got to go.”
During a narcotics raid on Taylor’s apartment in March 2020, investigators said that Cosgrove fired 16 rounds into the apartment after her front door was breached. Assuming an intruder was breaking in, Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot from a handgun at the officers. Officer Jonathan Mattingly was struck in the leg, and the officers returned fire, killing Taylor in her hallway.
An investigation by the FBI determined that Cosgrove and Mattingly struck the 26-year-old Black woman, and that Cosgrove likely fired the fatal shot. Neither officer was charged by a 2020 state grand jury in Taylor’s death, and a two-year investigation by the FBI also cleared Cosgrove and Mattingly of any charges.
The FBI investigation also found that other superior officers had created a faulty drug warrant, containing false information about Taylor. U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland stated in August that the officers who went to her apartment with the warrant “were not involved in drafting the warrant affidavit and were not aware that it was false.”
When speaking of his hiring at the Kentucky sheriff’s department, Carroll County chief deputy Robert Miller pointed out that Cosgrove was cleared by the state grand jury. Cosgrove had the ability to apply for other law enforcement jobs in the state due to a vote in November by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to not revoke his state peace officer certification.
Brett Hankison, an officer who fired shots but didn’t hit anybody during the raid, was found not guilty by a jury of wanton endangerment charges. He still awaits trial on federal civil rights charges for his actions during the raid, as well as two other officers who were involved in acquiring the warrant. A third officer pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the crafting of the warrant.