Kriti Mehrotra
ABC’s ’20/20: Breonna Taylor: Say Her Name’ is a two-hour special that takes a deep dive into the life and death of 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor, along with the aftermath that is her messy case. From 911 calls and interrogation tapes to surveillance photos and public records, this episode highlights everything in an attempt to find the answer behind what transpired on the night of March 13, 2020, and how that claimed Breonna’s life.
The three officers of Louisville Metro Police Department accused of killing her – Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove – are also looked into. So, if you’re here wondering more about Brett, in particular, you’ve come to the right place.
Who Is Brett Hankison?
Brett Hankison is a former Detective at the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD). Initially, he joined the police force as an officer in the Lexington Department in 1992, but he resigned a decade later, in 2002. Apparently, his supervisor at the time wrote that Brett was not fit for duty anywhere else and that he would not recommend his reemployment either as he had a habit of violating rules, refusing orders, and not keeping his poor attitude in check.
But still, Brett got entry into the LMPD in 2003, where he quickly rose through the ranks to become a Detective and got the opportunity to serve on the narcotics unit as well, starting in 2016. Fast forward a few years, and by 2020, he was a part of the squad that was investigating Breonna’s ex-boyfriend for drug trafficking. While looking into that, the team obtained a search warrant for her home. And it was during its execution that everything went wrong, and she died.
Where Is Brett Hankison Now?
After Breonna Taylor’s passing, her case took the world by storm, sparking the start of the Black Lives Matter movement. In response to that and Brett’s actions, the Louisville Metro Police Department relieved him of duty in June of 2020. The Department’s chief, Robert Schroeder, accused Brett of blindly firing ten bullets into Breonna’s apartment and terminated him on the grounds of “violating departmental policies on adherence to rules and regulations and use of deadly force.”
He also noted that Brett had a history of reckless misconduct, which had come to light in 2019 as well. However, even with that, in September of 2020, during a grand jury proceeding, Brett was not charged with firing at or killing Breonna. In saying that, though, Brett Hankison, the 44-year-old, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment that day and arrested for the same.
He was booked into the Shelby County Detention Center on September 23 but was released within half an hour after posting a $15,000 cash bond. Furthermore, in an unrelated lawsuit filed against him, Brett is called a “sexual predator,” who, when he was a Detective, used his uniform to prey on innocent women who were, at least, two decades younger than him.
It includes not one, not two, but a total of 10 claims by different women who say that their experiences with Brett, ranging from unwanted sexual advances to sexual assault, terrified them. Brett has since pleaded not guilty to the indictment and is currently awaiting a court trial for the same. First-degree wanton endangerment is a Class D felony, the lowest of them all, so the maximum sentence for a single count of it is five years, and the minimum is one, which is what Brett will face if convicted.
Read More: Where Is Myles Cosgrove Now?
