Attorney alleges Breonna Taylor’s name was used in drug suspect’s plea deal; prosecutor says that’s ‘false’

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville lawyer Sam Aguiar, one of the attorneys representing Breonna Taylor’s family, said local law enforcement had tried to offer Taylor’s ex-boyfriend a plea deal in exchange for him naming Taylor as a co-defendant in a drug case.

A convicted drug trafficker, Jamarcus Glover was arrested on new drug charges just last week. Also last week, WAVE 3 News reported the revelation of new documents that painted a picture of a close relationship between Glover and Taylor. The documents included transcriptions of recorded jailhouse conversations between Glover and Taylor, as well as conversations between Glover and another woman, whom he told Taylor was holding money for him.

Taylor was shot dead by LMPD narcotics officers raiding her home on March 13. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot at the officers, thinking they were intruders, prompting the officers to return fire. Taylor was shot five times and died on the floor of her hallway.

Just minutes before the Taylor raid, another LMPD narcotics unit raided a suspected drug house on Elliott Avenue in Louisville’s Russell neighborhood. Glover was arrested in that raid.

For his part, Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, and because Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine was investigating Walker, he recused his office from the Taylor death investigation. Wine would later drop that charge against Walker.

Aguiar published a Facebook post Monday, accusing Wine of smearing the name of a woman shot dead in her home.

He said the plea offer, which Glover rejected, was made on July 13, exactly four months after Taylor was killed.

“This goes to show how desperate Tom Wine ... is to justify the wrongful search of Breonna Taylor’s home, her killing and arrest of Kenneth Walker,” Aguiar wrote in his post that you can read below. “Thank god his office recused itself, as we sure as hell know what they would’ve done. And shame on that office. Breonna Taylor is not a ‘co-defendant’ in a criminal case. She’s dead. Way to try and attack a woman when she’s not even here to defend herself.”

Sgt. Jon Mattingly and detectives Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison were placed on administrative reassignment following the Taylor raid. Hankison was fired in June for “blindly” firing 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment from outside.

(Story continues below the Facebook post)

WARNING: Post includes language that might offend some readers:

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office is investigating the case but it’s not clear when he’ll announce whether to criminally charge the three officers. Cameron met with the FBI on Monday to discuss the findings of the ballistics report which was just finalized over the weekend.

When reached for comment Monday afternoon, Wine said Aguiar “has mischaracterized that ... Ms. Taylor was never a co-defendant. We don’t indict people posthumously. She was certainly involved in the actions. We know (that) from the search warrant.”

Shortly after Wine shared his response with WAVE3.com, his office sent the following statement around to local media:

“Today Sam Aguiar, the attorney for the estate of Breonna Taylor, posted on Facebook that the Office of Commonwealth’s Attorney and I, as Commonwealth’s Attorney, named Breonna Taylor as a Co-Defendant in a pending case against Jamarcus Glover.

Breonna Taylor was never a Co-Defendant in the Jamarcus Glover case. A case including Breonna Taylor as a Co-Defendant was never presented to the Grand Jury nor did our office ever consider presenting one to the Grand Jury with her name. Our office has not and does not posthumously indict any person who is deceased.

The plea sheet that Sam Aguiar posted on Facebook was a draft that was part of preindictment plea negotiations with Mr. Glover and his attorney. Those drafts were never part of the court record and are not court documents. We were aware of the information in the warrants as well as the jail phone calls where Mr. Glover implicated Ms. Taylor in his criminal activity. When I was advised of the discussions, out of respect for Ms. Taylor, I directed that Ms. Breonna Taylor’s name be removed. The final plea sheet provided to Mr. Glover’s counsel is attached and clearly does not include Ms. Taylor as a Co-Defendant. This plea sheet was emailed on July 21, 2020 to Mr. Glover’s attorney. The offer was withdrawn when Mr. Glover failed to surrender himself to court.

Mr. Aguiar’s characterization of the draft plea sheet is false as Ms. Taylor was never a Co-Defendant with Mr. Glover. Further, his comments regarding our office distributing “one-sided” information is also a false accusation.”

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