Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is on the defensive as his office continues to receive criticism over the Breonna Taylor case.
Cameron spoke out after Taylor family attorney Ben Crump urged him to recuse himself so a special prosecutor can be appointed to investigate the case.
“It is now clearer than ever that this was a case where you decided early on that your office would never actually prosecute against officers Cosgrove, Mattingly and anyone else responsible for the unlawful death of Breonna Taylor,” Crump wrote in an open letter posted on his website.
“Your office refused to even allow a grand jury to seek indictments against any of these three officers with relation to Breonna Taylor,” the letter continued. “You were biased throughout the process and intentionally deprived justice for Breonna and her family.”
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Taylor died on March 13 after Louisville Metro Police officers stormed her apartment to execute a drug search warrant. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot with his handgun because he though the home was being burglarized. Officers Brett Hankinson, John Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove responded with a hail of gunfire. Taylor was hit five times.
In a statement emailed to NPR on Monday, Oct. 5, Elizabeth Kuhn, a spokeswoman for Cameron, said his office kept control of the potential criminal case against the three officers because it had “resources required to complete the investigation.” At the time the case was referred to Cameron, Walker was facing attempted murder charges filed by Louisville Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine because the shot Walker fired reportedly struck Mattingly.
“Our office was asked to appoint a special prosecutor because of a conflict of interest by the Commonwealth’s Attorney, who at the time, was pursuing the prosecution of Mr. Kenneth Walker,” Kuhn said in the email.
“The law allowed for the Attorney General to appoint a prosecutor from another jurisdiction to oversee the case, but given the importance of the case and the resources required to complete the investigation, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions proceeded with handling the investigation and prosecution,” Kuhn added.
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