'Please continue to say her name': Louisville to pay $12m to Breonna Taylor family and implement police reforms

The city of Louisville, Kentucky will pay $12m to the family of Breonna Taylor and commit to police reform and transparency measures to settle a civil lawsuit filed in the wake of the police killing of the 26-year-old black woman in her apartment.

“Her death has ignited a movement in Louisville and in the nation for racial justice, sending thousands into our streets and cities across the country and world all crying out for justice for Breonna," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced on Tuesday.

In a lawsuit filed in April, Ms Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer alleged that police relied on flawed information using a "no-knock" warrant to enter her apartment. Ms Taylor's boyfriend fired at what he thought were intruders, and police killed Ms Taylor while returning fire.

None of the three officers wore body-mounted cameras. No criminal charges have been filed.

Officer Brett Hankinson was fired three months after her death for "wantonly and blindly" firing 10 rounds into her apartment, according to then-interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder.

The warrant was one of several involved with a drug trafficking case, but a suspect was arrested more than 10 miles from Ms Taylor’s apartment the same night she was killed.

Kentucky’s attorney general Daniel Cameron is investigating the case, and the FBI has also opened an investigation.

“We must not lose focus on what the real job is," Ms Palmer said a press conference on Tuesday. "It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more.”

She asked supporters to “please continue to say her name,” echoing a refrain from protests heard around the world demanding justice after her death.

Lonita Baker, an attorney for Ms Taylor’s estate, said “justice for Breonna Taylor is multi-layered.”

“We’re not going to stop our cause to hold the officers responsible for Breonna’s death accountable,” she said.