Cody Etherton Recalls The Terrifying Moment He Almost Was Shot During Breonna Taylor’s Raid

After nearly two years, one of the Kentucky officers joined the botched raid 2020 ends in Breonna TaylorHis tragic death was finally brought to trial.

Prosecutors on Wednesday, however, insisted former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison not tested for killing 26 year old EMT worker—But for 10 shots were fired into a neighboring apartment building, endangering a pregnant couple and their young son.

“Breonna Taylor wouldn’t have died that night,” Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley said Wednesday during opening arguments. “This is the case about Cody [Etherton] and his partner Chelsea [Napper]7 months pregnant at the time, and their 5-year-old son, were sleeping in the bedroom near the front door when the bullets pierced the apartment and through their sliding glass door, into the night.

Hankison, 44, faces three felony counts for the March 13, 2020 raids at Taylor’s apartment. At the time the search warrant was issued — issued as part of an investigation into a suspected drug dealer who lived in another part of town and was arrested — Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenny Walkerslept in their apartment.

So did Etherton and his pregnant mate.

“O ne or two more inches I will be shot. My son will never see me and I will never see him,” Etherton testified in the stands on Wednesday, describing to jurors how he had to crawl back. with his partner in the bedroom as the gunfire continued. “It’s very chaotic.”

A month after the shooting, Hankison was fired for his conduct during the raid. He showed “extreme indifference to the value of human life” by “blindly shooting” 10 bullets at Taylor’s house, a letter of termination speak.

Taylor’s death prompted a FBI investigation and a wave of protests, as anger also grew over the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Amid continued outrage over the lack of criminal charges, the city of Louisville in September 2020 achieve a payout of 12 million dollars in the Taylor family wrongful lawsuit.

Prosecutors on Wednesday argued that the trial was not about the search warrant leading to Taylor’s apartment, but about “Brett Hankison’s actions” and “the circumstances under which he acted.”

Etherton and his partner were sleeping in their apartment when they were awoken by a “bang” on Taylor’s door, Whaley said.

The first witness in the stands, Etherton told the jury how he initially thought someone broke into his apartment and ran to the door to “protect his family.” When trying to get to the front door, he said he was hit in the face by a piece of drywall when a bullet flew through his apartment and through his head.

During the raid, prosecutors say Hankison “fired on” the apartment building, causing some of the bullets to go through two apartments, including Etherton’s. According to prosecutors, at least three bullets “torn” through Etherton’s apartment, shattering their sliding glass doors and putting everyone inside at risk.

Etherton said after the gunfire, there was about 30 seconds of silence before he heard police shouting outside. As he poked his head out into the hallway of the apartment, Etherton testified that he saw Taylor’s door open and that from inside the pitch-black apartment, he heard someone say, “Breathe, baby. ”

“That’s when I knew it was serious,” Etherton said.

Prosecutors say that after the shooting, Hankison insisted he fired his weapon more than was necessary because he claimed to have seen an individual with an “AR rifle” outside the apartment by Taylor. Whaley says the evidence proves there was never a rifle at the building that night.

Stew Matthews, a defense attorney for the former police officer, told jurors Wednesday morning that his client was simply reacting to the “utter chaos” of the raid that included seven officers.

“You’ll find this scene completely chaotic,” he said. “Hankison will tell you that when that door was broken in, he shot straight and saw a flash of light from the muzzle of the gun,” said Mathews, noting that his client was ready to testify on his own behalf. he.