Mattingly and Walker were both present during the middle-of-the-night raid on Taylor’s apartment in March of 2020. As police attempted to break down Taylor’s door, Walker fired his gun once, striking Mattingly in the leg. Taylor was killed in her hallway as police returned fire. Walker later said he believed the plainclothes officers were intruders.
Lawyers representing Mattingly filed an order to dismiss his lawsuit against Walker on May 11. Mattingly said he chose to drop the lawsuit against Walker after "much prayer and discussion with my family and attorneys," according to WDRB. He said he hoped the action would help the city heal.
The motion came after Walker’s lawyers dropped their own claims against Mattingly and the other officers involved after settling with the city for $2 million last November.
Walker originally filed suit in September 2020 for assault, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and other claims. He was asking the court for monetary damages and an injunction preventing the city from continuing to prosecute him for shooting Mattingly.
“Kenny continues to reel from the death of the love of his life, but he is also the victim and survivor of police misconduct – misconduct that threatens his freedom to this day,” his lawyers wrote in the initial complaint.
Walker was charged with attempted murder and first-degree assault immediately following the raid. Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine moved to dismiss those charged in May 2020, but left the door open to future prosecution. Walker eventually received immunity from further prosecution in March 2021, a full year after police killed Taylor.
In court filings, Mattingly’s lawyers called Walker’s actions that night an “unjustified assault.” His countersuit against Walker included claims of assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Mattingly was the only officer who fired his weapon during the raid on Taylor’s apartment who wasn’t terminated from the Louisville Metro Police Department. Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, who an FBI ballistics report said fired the bullets that killed Taylor, were both terminated. Mattingly, meanwhile, was allowed to retire in June 2021.
Four LMPD officers involved in planning and executing the raid, including Hankison, were indicted on federal civil rights charges last August. The U.S. Department of Justice also released a 90-page report in March documenting a pattern of discriminatory policing and excessive use of force by LMPD officers.
