Breonna Taylor decision: What is wanton endangerment, the charge one Louisville officer faces?
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One of three police officers involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor was charged Wednesday with first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony charge in Kentucky that could carry up to five years in prison.
A grand jury indicted former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for shots he fired into a neighboring apartment, not directly tied to Taylor's death. Two other officers involved in the shooting, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, were not indicted.
Activists and Taylor's family and their legal team had called for harsher charges. Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Taylors, said this month he hoped to see "at minimum" second-degree manslaughter charges.
The officers were carrying out a "no-knock" search warrant at Taylor's apartment shortly before 1 a.m. March 13. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who said he didn't know they were police, exchanged fire with the officers, and Mattingly was injured. Taylor, 26, an ER technician, was fatally shot as the three officers sprayed more than two dozen bullets into her apartment.
More on the Breonna Taylor case: Kentucky grand jury indicts 1 of 3 officers in fatal Breonna Taylor police shooting
Here's what you should know about the charge of wanton endangerment:
What is wanton endangerment?
In Kentucky, wanton endangerment is a Class D felony.
"A person is guilty of wanton endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he wantonly engages in conduct which creates a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person," state law says.
How many years does the charge carry?
A person convicted of a Class D felony generally faces one to five years in prison for each count.
Other Class D felonies in Kentucky law include unauthorized use of a credit card involving a sum of $500 to $1,000, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and first-degree stalking.
Are the wanton endangerment charges directly tied to Taylor's death?
No.
The three counts of wanton endangerment that Hankison faces are tied to the shots he fired into a neighbor's apartment.
The charges read by Judge Annie O'Connell on Wednesday said Hankison "wantonly shot a gun" into a neighboring apartment.
The occupants were identified by initials. None of them was BT – Breonna Taylor. The grand jury didn't find that Hankison wantonly fired into her apartment.
Hankison was fired in June after interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder said he "blindly" fired into Taylor's apartment, creating a substantial danger of death and serious injury.
In May, Taylor's neighbor, Chesey Napper, filed a lawsuit against the LMPD officers, claiming that the officers' shots were "blindly fired" and nearly struck a man inside Napper's home. Napper was pregnant and had a child in the home, according to the lawsuit.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said there is not conclusive evidence that Hankison's shots hit Taylor. He said Mattingly and Cosgrove were justified in returning deadly fire after they were fired upon by Walker.
Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY; Darcy Costello and Tessa Duvall, Louisville Courier Journal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Breonna Taylor decision: What is wanton endangerment charge?
