The lone Kentucky police officer charged in connection with the raid that killed Breonna Taylor was sued Tuesday for an alleged sexual assault that occurred in 2018.
Louisville attorney Margo Borders wrote in the lawsuit that then-officer Brett Hankison left her “physically injured and mentally battered” after “willfully, intentionally, painfully and violently” sexually assaulting her while on duty. Borders alleged Hankison offered her a ride home from a bar then attacked her, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Borders also detailed the alleged assault in a June 14 Facebook post that went viral. Borders wrote at the time that Hankison invited himself into her apartment and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.
Around the same time, a second woman took to social media and accused Hankison of sexual assault. Like Borders, the second accuser claimed Hankison forced himself on her after offering a ride home from a bar in a marked vehicle.
Borders, a University of Louisville law school graduate, called Hankison a “sexual predator” in the lawsuit filed in Jefferson County. She claimed she yelled for the officer to get off of her once she regained consciousness.
Hankison later messaged Borders to “suggest that the two had engaged in consensual relations,” the lawsuit stated, according to the Courier-Journal.
On March 13, Hankison, Detective Myles Cosgrove, and Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly reportedly shot and killed Taylor, 26, while executing a search warrant at her home. The warrant was one of five police issued as they investigated Taylor’s former boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. Glover was found 10 miles from Taylor’s apartment the same night as her shooting death, according to multiple reports.
Hankison was fired and charged with wanton endangerment for shots he allegedly fired into Taylor’s neighbor’s home — not for the shots that killed Taylor. Mattingly and Cosgrove have not been charged or faced any disciplinary action in connection with the deadly shooting.
Louisville Metro police claimed the officers announced themselves and returned gunfire to Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, 27, who is reportedly a legal gun owner. Walker claimed he fired a single shot as he believed the officers were intruders.
Police said the single bullet Walker fired shot Mattingly in his femoral artery. Walker was initially charged with the attempted murder of a police officer and first-degree assault, but prosecutors dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence.
In September, Walker filed a civil lawsuit against Louisville officials and police, requesting prosecutorial immunity under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Mattingly countersued Walker for emotional distress.
Hankison’s lawyer has not yet commented on Borders’ lawsuit.
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[Featured image: Breonna Taylor/Instagram; Brett Hankison/Louisville Police Department]
