CARROLL COUNTY, Ky. — A former Louisville police detective who was fired for his involvement in the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor has found a new job in Carroll County, Kentucky.
Myles Cosgrove was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for violating the department's use of force procedures and not using a body camera during the raid on Taylor's apartment. Despite his termination, Cosgrove's certification was not revoked, allowing him to continue to work in law enforcement.
Our partners at WLEX report that Cosgrove began working at the Carroll County Sheriff's Office on April 20.
It's a decision many in the community say they don't support. A protest of more than a dozen people popped up in front of the Carroll County Sheriff's Office Monday morning.
“This man is a disgrace to the badge. He shouldn’t be holding a badge ever again in his life," said Lousiville resident Antonio Brown.
“I would like for Myles Cosgrove to not to be a part of sheriff’s department here in Carroll County. I would like the state of Kentucky to reconsider upholding his certification to hold a badge and a gun because he doesn’t protect and serve the citizens of Kentucky. He can’t. He’s proven that in his failures as an officer in the past," said Laura Goldsmith, a resident of Carroll County.
“I felt uneasy. A little sick to my stomach," said Margaret Walker, a resident of Carroll County. “It’s a peaceful place. I think this is going to upset, be unsettling in a lot of ways."
Some held signs that called Cosgrove a "murderer" and a "liability" while others held signs in remembrance of Taylor.
“He doesn’t need to be a cop anymore, certainly not here," Goldsmith said.
Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by police officers conducting a no-knock search warrant at her home in March 2020. They were looking for her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who did not live at the residence.
Walker and Taylor were settled in bed for the night when they were roused by banging on her apartment door around midnight on March 13, 2020. Police were outside with a drug warrant, and they used a battering ram to knock down the door. Walker fired a single shot from a handgun, striking Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg. Mattingly and two other officers, including Cosgrove then opened fire, killing Taylor. A grand jury decided not to charge these officers in her death.
In December 2022, The City of Louisville agreed to pay Walker $2 million to settle lawsuits in federal and state court. Attorney Steve Romines said Taylor's death "will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life."
“He will live with the effects of being put in harm’s way due to a falsified warrant, to being a victim of a hailstorm of gunfire and to suffering the unimaginable and horrific death of Breonna Taylor,” Romines said.
Walker was initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but charges against him were eventually dropped as protests and news media attention on the Taylor case intensified in the spring of 2020.
Earlier this year, U.S. Justice Department prosecutors charged three Louisville officers with a conspiracy to falsify the Taylor warrant. One of the now-former officers, Kelly Goodlett, has pleaded guilty and admitted to helping create a false link between Taylor and a wanted drug dealer.
The Courier-Journal reported that Goodlett is expected to testify against her former colleagues. She is scheduled to be sentenced in November. She could face up to five years in prison.
The case highlighted the issue of "no-knock” warrants — which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence - and led to a reexamination of the practice.
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office said they have "no comment" on the hiring of Cosgrove.
The Associated Press and Scripps National contributed to the information in this article.
READ MORE
Unsolved cases in the spotlight at Cincinnati's "Victims Memorial"
What is the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act?
Appeals court upholds Derek Chauvin's sentencing
'He was a beautiful soul'; family remembers 21-year-old shooting victim
Gurpreet Singh case update: Man charged in quadruple homicide hires new attorneys for retrial draft
