By David Matthews
New York Daily News
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Former Louisville Detective Brett Hankison pleaded not guilty to three charges of felony wanton endangerment in connection with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky last March.
Hankison fired through “a sliding glass door and through a bedroom window,” according to state attorney general Daniel Cameron’s indictment. Some of the bullets went into an adjacent apartment that was occupied by three people, including a child and a pregnant woman. The charges are related to endangering those three people because ballistic evidence was inconclusive whether or not Hankison shot Taylor.
Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith also ordered that Hankinson not be allowed to possess any weapons while he was on pretrial release. His attorney Stewart Mathews claimed Hankinson has been threatened and wanted a weapon to protect himself, according to a tweet from WDRB.com criminal justice reporter Jason Riley.
Hankison, who was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June, was charged last Wednesday after a grand jury investigation for firing his gun blindly into the apartment. No other officers involved in the deadly raid at Taylor’s boyfriend’s apartment were charged.
Hankison was released on $15,000 bail shortly after he was arrested and booked last week. If convicted on all three charges, Hankison faces between three and 15 years in prison.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said Monday that the city was ending its curfew but will retain physical barriers and traffic restrictions downtown following several days of demonstrations.
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