Two Louisville officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death to be fired
Myles Cosgrove, who fired the fatal shots at Taylor; and Joshua Jaynes, who lied to obtain the search warrant, received termination letters this week.
Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired the fatal shots toward Breonna Taylor, has received a letter of termination from the Louisville Police Department. Detective Joshua Jaynes, the officer who obtained the no-knock search warrant for the fatal raid, has also learned that he will be fired from the department, NBC reports.
The termination of both officers arrives nine months after Taylor was killed and three months since a grand jury failed to bring criminal charges against Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. Only former detective Brett Hankison was charged in the shooting with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree.
A spokesperson for Jaynes told NBC that both officers will still have the right to a pre-termination hearing on Thursday (Dec. 31) before they are officially fired from the department.
“LMPD and the mayor’s office have totally botched this whole investigation, and I think they’re looking for people to throw under the bus and I think Joshua Jaynes unfortunately is one of those individuals who is placed in the path of this bus,” Jaynes’ lawyer, Thomas Clay, told NBC affiliate WAVE.
In order to obtain the no-knock warrant to enter Taylor’s home, Jaynes told a Jefferson County judge in a sworn affidavit that he had “verified through a U.S. Postal Inspector” that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, had been “receiving packages” at Taylor’s address. However, an investigation found, Jaynes never contacted a US postal inspector.
Furthermore, the U.S. postal inspector had actually spoken with two different detectives — one of whom was Sgt. Mattingly — and told them on multiple occasions that there were no “suspicious” deliveries at Taylor’s house.
“Detective Jaynes lied when he swore ‘verified through a U.S. Postal Inspector,’” LMPD Interim Chief Yvette Gentry wrote in her termination letter. “Detective Jaynes did not have contact with a U.S. Postal Inspector, he received the information from Sergeant Mattingly, who got it from a Shively Police Officer.”
“Detective Jaynes also lied when he swore a U.S. Postal Inspector advised ‘that Jamarcus Glover has been receiving packages at 3003 Springfield Drive #4,’” Gentry continued.
The letter of Cosgrove’s termination has not yet been made public. In September, Cosgrove launched a crowdfunding campaign to ask for donations so he could retire.