Kelly Goodlett, a former Louisville police detective who helped falsify the warrant that led to the deadly police raid at Breonna Taylor’s apartment, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, reports the Associated Press. Federal investigators said Goodlett added a false line to the warrant and conspired with another detective to create a cover story when Taylor’s March 13, 2020, shooting death by police began gaining national attention. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was killed by officers who knocked down her door while executing a drug search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot that hit an officer, and police returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times.
Goodlett, 35, appeared in court Tuesday and admitted to conspiring with another officer to falsify the warrant. A federal grand jury indicted three former officers this month. Goodlett was charged in a federal information filing, which likely means she is cooperating with investigators. Goodlett will be sentenced Nov. 22. She resigned Aug. 5, a day after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced new federal charges in the Taylor case. Another officer claimed to Goodlett days before the warrant was served that he had “verified” from a postal inspector that a suspected drug dealer was receiving packages at Taylor’s apartment. Goodlett knew this was false. She added a paragraph saying the suspected dealer was using Taylor’s apartment as his current address. Two months later, when the case was attracting national headlines, the postal inspector told a media outlet he had not verified packages for Glover were going to Taylor’s apartment.