Jurors have seen pictures and watched videos from the scene of the raid throughout the trial. On Friday, they took a trip to the apartment complex where the raid happened to view evidence in person.
A detective from the attorney general’s office directed the jury through both Taylor’s apartment and the apartments investigators say Hankison’s bullets traveled in.
There were three people, including a five-year-old, sleeping in that apartment at the time of the raid, which is where the counts of wanton endangerment stem from.
On Friday, jurors also heard from FBI agents. One agent with the evidence response team.
The team conducted a two-day search of Taylor’s apartment where they cut into drywall to collect evidence.
Another agent, forensic examiner Bryce Ziegler, shed insight on Hankison’s claim that he saw a suspect inside the apartment shooting a AR-15 rifle continuously.
Ziegler examined casings from the scene, including two rifle cartilage casings.
One was found in the breezeway by a relative of Taylor and the other in the landscaping in front of the apartment by a neighbor.
“I was asked to compare those two cartridge casings to each other to determine if they were or were not fired by the same firearm,” says Ziegler. “I identified them as having been fired by the same firearm.”
Investigators testified that no rifle fitting the description was found in the apartment.
The other casings compared were from officers’ handguns and the pistol found under a bed in the apartment.
Hankison and former LMPD officer Myles Cosgrove are expected to take the stand next week. Investigators say it was Cosgrove who fired the shot that killed Taylor.
No one has been criminally charged with Taylor’s death.
Jurors were dismissed after the visit and were directed to return to the court Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors will call about six more witnesses next week.
The trial could end as soon as next week.