LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields on Monday sent a termination notice to Sgt. Kyle Meany, one of the four LMPD officers charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a probe of Breonna Taylor's death.
What You Need To Know
- LMPD Sgt. Kyle Meany has received a pre-termination letter
- Chief Erika Shields notified Meany of her intent to fire him on Monday
- Meany, along with former officers Brett Hankison and Joshua Jaynes, are facing federal indictments as the FBI investigates the circumstances surrounding Breonna Taylor's death after execution of a no-knock warrant
- Federal prosecutors allege Meany, Jaynes and Goodlett conspired to cover up lies on the search warrant that was issued to justify the deadly no-knock raid on March 13, 2020
Shields notified Meany, 35, of her intent to fire him in a pretermination letter provided to Spectrum News. In it, Shields cites his federal charges as grounds to fire him.
"Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the department. Your conduct has severely damaged the image of our department's goal of providing the residents of our city with the most professional law enforcement agency possiblem" the notice reads.
Meany will have a chance to provide "additional information or mitigating factors" to Shields Thursday morning with the company of an attorney or a union rep, which is standard policy for the department.
Meany, along with former officers Brett Hankison and Joshua Jaynes, are facing federal indictments as the FBI investigates the circumstances surrounding Breonna Taylor's death after execution of a no-knock warrant.
Another officer facing charges, Kelly Goodlett, resigned on Friday, the day after the DOJ announced indictments against the three other officers. Jaynes' former partner, Goodlett was not indicted but charged on information.
Federal prosecutors allege Meany, Jaynes and Goodlett conspired to cover up lies on the search warrant that was issued to justify the deadly no-knock raid on March 13, 2020.
Hankison, who was dismissed from the department in 2020, was one of the officers at Taylor’s door and one of three who fired shots that night. He was acquitted by a jury of state charges of wanton endangerment earlier this year in Louisville.
The first indictment — charging Jaynes and Meany in connection with the allegedly false warrant — contains four counts. The second indictment —against Hankison — includes two civil rights charges alleging that Hankison willfully used unconstitutionally excessive force, while acting in his official capacity as an officer, when he fired his service weapon into Taylor’s apartment through a covered window and covered glass door.
You can read the full first and second unsealed FBI indictments here.