Officer who sought warrant at Taylor home could be dismissed

FILE - Protesters participate in the Good Trouble Tuesday march for Breonna Taylor, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. A lawyer for Breonna Taylor's family said a plea deal was offered to an accused drug trafficker that would have forced him to implicate Taylor, who was killed by police in a raid on her home in March. Louisville's top prosecutor acknowledged the existence of the document but said it was part of preliminary plea negotiations with a man charged with illegal drug trafficking and not an attempt to smear Taylor.(Amy Harris/Invision/AP File) FILE - Protesters participate in the Good Trouble Tuesday march for Breonna Taylor, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. A lawyer for Breonna Taylor's family said a plea deal was offered to an accused drug trafficker that would have forced him to implicate Taylor, who was killed by police in a raid on her home in March. Louisville's top prosecutor acknowledged the existence of the document but said it was part of preliminary plea negotiations with a man charged with illegal drug trafficking and not an attempt to smear Taylor.(Amy Harris/Invision/AP File)

By Associated Press December 30, 2020 2 min read

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Louisville police have taken steps that could result in the firing of an officer who sought the no-knock search warrant that led detectives to the apartment where Breonna Taylor was fatally shot.

Detective Joshua Jaynes has received a pretermination letter, media outlets reported Tuesday. It came after a Professional Standards Unit investigation found he had violated department procedures for preparation of a search warrant and truthfulness, his attorney said.

The fatal shooting of the 26-year-old Black woman in her home sparked months of protests in Louisville alongside national protests over racial injustice and police misconduct.

Jaynes has a hearing with interim Chief Yvette Gentry and her staff on Thursday.

“Detective Jaynes and I will show up for the pretermination hearing to try to convince acting Chief Gentry that this action is unwarranted,” attorney Thomas Clay told the Courier Journal. “Jaynes did nothing wrong.”