Update (January 6, 2021): Two police officers involved in the no-knock raid that resulted in the shooting death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor have been terminated by the Louisville Metro Police Department.

According to NBC News, detectives Joshua Jaynes and Myles Cosgrove were officially fired on Tuesday after being notified last week that the department intended to terminate their employment in a letter from police chief Yvette Gentry.

Gentry confirmed that Cosgrove was in violation of department policy for use of deadly force and he failed to activate his body camera. Meanwhile, Jaynes was fired for violations in relation to his efforts in obtaining the March 13 search warrant.

The Washington Post discovered that Jaynes never actually contacted anyone from the U.S. Postal Service about Taylor’s previous boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, under the suspicion that he might be funneling drugs through her apartment. It was also found that Jaynes falsified on the warrant application that a postal worker was the one to reveal to him that Glover was getting packages at Taylor's home.

The two terminated detectives have since turned on each other, blaming the other for the botched search warrant application. However, Jaynes told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he would have written the application “a bit different” in looking back on the incident.

As Blavity previously reported, Taylor was in bed with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker in the early hours of the morning when officers rushed into her apartment on the basis of the no-knock warrant.

Walker made a call to 911 thinking that the premises were being robbed by intruders. Walker, who holds a firearm license, opened fire in the direction of the police and hit one of the officers in the leg.

Shortly after Walker fired shots, police returned fire and Taylor was killed in the crossfire. According to NBC News, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said this fall that Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Taylor.

Though Jaynes was not at Taylor's apartment when the shooting unfolded, he was responsible for securing the search warrant that led to the raid that resulted in the 26-year-old’s death.

Thomas Clay, Jaynes' attorney, said the former detective will try to appeal in front of a city board that evaluates police firings.

"He's being made a scapegoat," Clay told NBC News.

The attorney said police officials had “fully briefed” the department and its leadership before the raid occurred.

"There is culpability, if there is any culpability, it goes to the highest levels of Louisville metro government. He did nothing wrong. Joshua Jaynes did nothing wrong,” Clay said.

Original (December 31, 2020): The Louisville Metro Police Department is trying to fire from the force the two detectives involved in the police killing of Breonna Taylor in March, The Louisville Courier-Journal, CNN and The New York Times reported.

A lawyer for detective Joshua Jaynes, who ordered the raid on Taylor's home, said to CNN that he had received a "pre-termination letter" from the police department on Tuesday from Interim Chief of Police Yvette Gentry.

Detective Myles Cosgrove, who personally fired the shot that killed Taylor, said through his lawyer that he received the same letter, according to The Washington Post.

According to the letter, the police department has finally finished the much-discussed "Professional Standards Investigation" that they touted earlier this year, allegedly centered on the "preparation and execution of the search warrant" that led to officers shooting Taylor to death on March 13.

Gentry said Jaynes committed multiple violations on the search warrant he obtained from Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw for the raid on Taylor's home.

Jaynes outright lied twice on the warrant about verifying facts with a U.S. postal inspector, according to The Washington Post. He allegedly said he confirmed with a U.S. postal inspector that packages for Taylor's ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover were going to her apartment, which is not true. Sgt. John Mattingly, who also ended up firing shots that hit Taylor during the raid, was the source of the information that Jaynes used for the warrant.

An investigation by The Washington Post found that Jaynes never actually spoke to anyone from the U.S. Postal Service. He also falsely stated on the warrant application that a postal worker was the one who informed him that Glover was getting packages at Taylor's home.

Mattingly and Jaynes have since turned on each other, blaming the other for the bad information on the warrant, according to WHAS11.

"Mattingly merely gave Officer Jaynes the name of a contact at the Shively Police Department who was working on a task force with the postal inspectors as a source for information Officer Jaynes was looking for. Sgt. Mattingly never advised Jaynes that suspicious packages for Jamarcus Glover had been delivered at Breonna Taylor’s apartment, he did not draft the search warrant affidavit, did not sign it, and did not even see it before serving it on the night of March 13," Mattingly's lawyer said in October to WHAS11.

Shively Police Sgt. Timothy Salyer has since told investigators that he explicitly told Jaynes that suspicious packages for Glover were not going to Taylor's apartment. The postal worker has also confirmed with local outlets that he did not say Glover's packages were going to Taylor's home. Even Jaynes himself admitted that he should have written the warrant a "little bit differently," according to The Louisville Courier-Journal.

"Was it the way that you worded that specific bullet point in your affidavit, was it your intent to mislead the – the reviewing judge?" a Public Integrity Unit investigator asked Jaynes during an interview, according to local news outlet WDRB.

"No, not at all. And like I said, I could have worded a little bit differently in there," Jaynes said in response.

Jaynes later admitted Glover was only receiving Amazon packages at Taylor's home and only included it to make "the point that Glover was receiving… mail at that location," a report from investigators later said.

"Detective Jaynes lied when he swore 'verified through a U.S. postal inspector.' It is clear from this review there should have been better controls, supervision, and scrutiny over this operation prior to the warrant being signed and executed. Because the operations plan was not completed properly a very dangerous situation was created for all parties involved," Gentry wrote.

“These are extreme violations of our policies, which endangered others. Your actions have brought discredit upon yourself and the Department. Your conduct severely damaged the image our department has established within our community. I cannot tolerate this type of conduct or untruthfulness by any member of the Louisville Metro Police Department," Gentry added.

Jaynes Termination Letter by jhartenjr

In a report on the case given to Gentry, investigators said that Jaynes "should be reviewed for criminal actions" for the misleading words he used in the warrant, according to The Louisville Courier-Journal.

Gentry also slammed Jaynes for not personally going on the raid himself considering he was the one that conducted the majority of the investigation into Glover.

"You were the officer who conducted the majority of the investigation; however, neither you, your direct supervisor or his lieutenant were present or available at the scene when the search warrant was executed," she said.

A hearing will be held on Thursday about the case, according to CNN. Jaynes' lawyer claimed the hearing is simply a formality and said it was likely a done deal that both detectives would be fired.

The emergency room technician had spent days and weeks on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic before officers broke down her door and shot her at least six times, as Blavity previously reported. She was not under investigation and had not been charged with anything, but detectives believed her apartment was tied to a local drug dealer who they had recently arrested.

It is still unclear what the detectives thought they would find at Taylor's home, and many legal analysts have questioned how a raid could be authorized on the home of someone who was not charged or implicated in any crimes.

After her death, prosecutors sought to force the drug dealer, Jamarcus Glover, to name her as an accomplice in exchange for a lighter sentence, something he refused to do.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron faced a tidal wave of backlash when he declined to press any charges against the two officers who shot Taylor to death, Cosgrove and Mattingly.

The only officer to face any legal repercussions from the deadly raid on Taylor's home is former detective Brett Hankison, who was fired after the shooting and has been charged for shooting into the apartments above and next to Taylor's.

The Professional Standards Unit investigation did not just include Jaynes and Cosgrove. However, at least six officers are under investigation, according to The Louisville Courier-Journal.

LMPD Chief Gentry, in an all-staff email: “I believe my decisions have placed the responsibility for the actions taken in this case upon the shoulders of the people who I believe are … responsible.” pic.twitter.com/V8LLNTidcK

— Darcy Costello (@dctello) December 29, 2020

Gentry sent an email to the entire police force defending her decision to fire the detectives. She will be relinquishing her interim role soon as Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer prepares to name a permanent hire following Gentry's refusal to stay on permanently, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

"I believe my decisions have placed the responsibility for the actions taken in this case upon the shoulders of the people… responsible. To this point, every officer on this department has unequally borne the burden of decisions that you all did not make and had to work under conditions you did not create," she wrote.

"Bringing closure to this case is important not only for the families impacted but for all of you to stop working under the cloud of suspicion. Please continue to work hard, stay safe, and know that I support you in your efforts to make this city a better place," she added.

A lawyer for Taylor's family, Lonita Baker, told the local newspaper that the decision to fire Jaynes and Cosgrove should have been made months ago and the other officer, Mattingly, who fired bullets that hit Taylor has not been fired.

"When law enforcement includes blatant lies on a search warrant, it's not enough to just to be fired from your job," Baker told WDRB. "It's a bare minimum that they tell the truth — that they don't put people's lives at risk — that they don't put other officers' lives at risk based off a lie."

Joshua-Jaynes

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