DOJ moves to dismiss charges against police officers in Breonna Taylor case
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion Friday to dismiss the remaining charges against two former Louisville Metro Police Department officers involved in the Breonna Taylor case.
The DOJ filed the motion asking the court to dismiss the charges against former officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany in U.S. District Court in Louisville, saying the charges should be dismissed “in the interest of justice.”
The officers were accused of providing false information in order to get a search warrant for Taylor’s apartment. Taylor died after being shot by police who were attempting to execute the no-knock warrant after midnight on March 13, 2020, sparking civil rights protests around the country.
Jaynes and Meany were indicted twice on a felony charge related to deprivation of rights, and both times the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, most recently on Aug. 20, 2025.
After that, the Justice Department says in the motion, the “government undertook a further review of this matter. Based on that review, and in the exercise of its discretion, the government has determined that this case should be dismissed in the interest of justice.”
The decision drew an outcry from civil rights advocates and Taylor’s family.
“I am compelled to express my extreme disappointment in Trump and the Department of Justice,” Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, said in a social media post. “Their phone call today informing me that charges against the police are being dropped while implying they have helped me is utterly disrespectful. This is the first time I’ve heard from them since they took over and it’s clear they have not served me or Breonna well. Their behavior is deplorable.”
Attorneys Ben Crump and Lonita Baker, who represent Taylor’s family, said the move by the DOJ is “deeply painful for Breonna Taylor’s family and it sends a chilling message about the value of Black lives in our country.”
“The warrant that sent officers to Breonna’s door has always been at the center of this tragedy and it deserves no less than the highest level of accountability,” the attorneys said in a statement. “We cannot accept a reality where a young woman can be killed in her own home and no one is held responsible under the law. That is not justice. That is injustice compounded.”
The nonprofit National Police Accountability Project called on citizens to continue filing their own lawsuits and standing up for their rights.
“The Justice Department’s action today is twisting a knife in an unhealed wound,” Executive Director Lauren Bonds said in a statement. “This is not justice; this is a free pass for law enforcement to make fatal mistakes.
“This move is horrifying, but consistent with the management of DOJ under President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Their Department of Justice has made it its mission to undermine civil rights, despite its statutory obligation to protect them. They have refused to pursue charges against the federal agents responsible for killing Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and abruptly terminated pattern and practice investigations that were ongoing across the country. They are not interested in accountability for wrongdoing; they are interested in diminishing our rights.”
Attorneys for Jaynes and Meany did not oppose the Justice Department’s decision to drop the charges, according to the court document filed by the DOJ.
This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 7:19 PM.
