Kenneth Walker's legal defense fund received a huge donation from entertainment mogul Tyler Perry.
According to Deadline, Perry contributed $100,000 to a GoFundMe campaign in support of Walker—Breonna Taylor's boyfriend, who was with her on the night of her fatal shooting. Perry made the donation in four separate public transactions on Sunday, which helped the campaign surpass its fundraising goal. As of Tuesday afternoon, the page had raised more than $107,000.
On March 13 of this year, Louisville Metro police officers executed a no-knock warrant at Taylor's home as she was asleep with Walker. Kenneth, a licensed gun owner, maintains that the plainclothes officers failed to identify themselves upon entry, leading him to believe they were intruders. Walker reportedly grabbed his gun and fired a warning shot, prompting a shootout within the apartment. Taylor, a 26-year-old ER technician, was wounded multiple times and pronounced dead shortly after.
Ex-LMPD officer Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg at some point during the botched raid. Walker was hit with an attempted murder charge for allegedly wounding Mattingly, but that was dismissed. Walker went on to file a civil suit against the LMPD, and Mattingly filed a countersuit accusing Walker of assault, battery, and inflicting emotional distress.
"Kenny Walker witnessed his girlfriend's death at the hands of police officers, was intimidated and targeted by the LMPD before charges were later dismissed, and has been through hell since," the GoFundMe page reads. "Now one of the officers on the raid that killed Kenny's girlfriend is suing him for assault and 'emotional distress. This is in spite of the fact that it was Kenneth who endured a home invasion by armed plainclothes intruders, it was Kenneth who watched his girlfriend die before his eyes ... it was Kenneth who watched the men who killed his girlfriend escape any charges related to her death, much less convictions."
Mattingly and the other involved officers, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison, were not charged in direct connection to Taylor's murder.
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