The ruling comes after the DOJ asked the judge to dismiss the case.
A federal judge on Friday dismissed misdemeanor charges against two former Louisville police officers accused of providing false information on a search warrant that led to the fatal March 13, 2020, raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment.
Taylor was shot and killed during the raid, and her death sparked nationwide outrage and fueled Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The ruling came one week after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion requesting dismissal of the charges against the two former officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, who were also charged in 2022 with civil rights violations.
In the ruling, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky senior judge Charles R. Simpson III said the court “received and considered the Government’s motion to dismiss [the case]” and granted it.
“The Indictment and Superseding Indictment on file in the above-captioned case are hereby dismissed with prejudice as against both defendants, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany,” the judge wrote.
In its motion, the DOJ said it conducted a “further review” of the case.
“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 filing stated.
Before the ruling, Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, criticized the DOJ’s decision in an interview with ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.
“She was killed because of their lies and negligence, and somebody should be held accountable for that,” Palmer said.
She added, “Breonna doesn’t get to come back. She doesn’t get to put it behind her,” saying that for her, “every day” has been March 13 since her daughter was killed.
“There’s no putting it behind me,” she said.
Following the ruling, ABC News reached out to Taylor’s family and their attorneys, Ben Crump and Lonita Baker, for comment.
In a statement, Meany’s attorney, Michael Denbow, said, “Kyle is overjoyed and incredibly relieved to have the case dismissed. He is incredibly thankful for his family and everyone else that has stood by and supported him through this process.”
ABC News also requested comment from an attorney representing Jaynes.
Before the ruling, Jaynes’ attorney, Travis Lock, said his client was “elated” by the DOJ’s request to dismiss the charges.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said earlier this week that the charges represented “inappropriate, weaponized federal overreach.”
“Neither of these officers was present during the shooting, and a district court has already repeatedly dismissed the most serious charges as completely unsupportable,” the spokesperson said. “These cases represented the kind of inappropriate, weaponized federal overreach that this Department of Justice no longer tolerates.”
Federal prosecutors had alleged that Jaynes and Meany provided false information to obtain the search warrant that allowed plainclothes Louisville police officers to enter Taylor’s home while searching for a former boyfriend who was not present.
During the raid, officers forced entry into the apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, believing someone was breaking in, fired a shot that struck an officer. Police returned fire, shooting 32 rounds into the apartment.
A federal judge had previously dismissed felony charges against the two officers, reducing them to misdemeanors, most recently in 2025.
Former Louisville officer Brett Hankison was convicted of a civil rights violation in connection with the case and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
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