KILLEEN, TX — A grand jury indicted one of three officers involved with the Breonna Taylor case Wednesday not for her death, but for shots fired into other apartments during the raid.
Taylor's death sparked nationwide outrage and demands of police reform with regards to no-knock warrant policies.
Closer to home, the Killeen Police Department announced in June that it would suspend the use of no-knock warrants for 90-days and had formed a panel of community members to address police reform. Two women, one a part of that committee and another who lost her brother to a no-knock warrant in Killeen, were both stunned at the end result of Taylor's case.
“Angry, upset, and frustrated,” said TaNeika Driver-Moultrie.
“It made me feel like our voice is not heard and our lives don’t matter,” said Jumeka Reed.
The #IamBreonnaTaylor and #SayHerName have taken on a whole meaning for the two.
“It was just as if it was just like a punch in the chest,” Moultrie said.
"It's another punch to an already existing wound," said Reed, reliving the loss of her brother James to a no-knock warrant back in February. She said though James wasn’t perfect, he did not deserve to die.
“The risk is not worth the reward for everybody has a right to due process. That’s their 14th Amendment right. They are entitled to their due process,” said Reed.
The deaths of Breonna Taylor and her brother have left her fighting for reform.
“I do believe they need to be banned nationwide, but to start off with the city of Killeen and then secondly the state of Texas and then move on forward,” said Reed.
With one officer being indicted on charges unrelated to Taylor's death and the other two let go, Moultrie says justice was not served.
“You know, it really seems that the ball was dropped somewhere,” she said.
As the President of the local NAACP chapter, Moultrie is one of a few community leaders on a panel to discuss no-knock warrants among other topics within Killeen's Police Department, but she's not stopping there.
“We’ve had conversations not only with Killeen, but we have had conversations as well with other local law enforcement agencies that we do cover within our jurisdiction," Moultrie said.
Accountability from the top down, education, and understanding is what Moultrie hopes for in the future.
“We just need to understand what a no-knock warrant is, how it’s executed, how it’s done and when it actually is put into enforcement,” she said.
A spokesperson for KPD says the department has been working with the selected group to come up with solutions to drive reform in the community. Those recommendations are currently under review by Chief Charles Kimble.
With the 90-day band on no-knock warrants set to expire in the coming weeks, we’re expecting an announcement for KPD soon.
Reed says the City of Killeen and police officers involved in the warrant have filed to dismiss her family's lawsuit in the name of her brother. She says if that motion is granted, they will appeal.
