Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson was charged with three counts of ‘wanton endangerment’ on Wednesday in connection with the shooting of 26-year-old black woman Breonna Taylor in the city, as per AFP report. 

Judge Annie O’Connell announced the charges brought by a grand jury against Hankinson, one of the three police officers involved in the shooting of the emergency medical technician Taylor in March.

Taylor’s death had fueled weeks of anti-racism protests in Louisville, Kentucky and later became a nationwide rallying cry for Black Lives Matter movement for police reform.

The 26-year-old was shot dead in her apartment when three plainclothes police officers executing a ‘no-knock’ search warrant burst into her apartment late at night.

Her boyfriend, who was in bed with her, exchanged fire with the officers, who he misunderstood as criminals. A police sergeant was wounded in the ensuing bullet storm. 

The officers who had not activated their body cameras as required shot Taylor multiple times, killing her.

The city of Louisville settled a wrongful death suit with Taylor’s family for $12 million last week.

A state of emergency had to be declared in the city of 600,000 by its mayor, following the suit. The civil settlement with Taylor’s family reflected the public pressure and emotion pervading the circumstances of her death. The incident had caused a furore in the local community.

Taylor’s death came two months before the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis.