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Brett Hankison was fired from the police service in June
The only US police officer charged in connection with a raid that resulted in the shooting death of a black woman at her home has pleaded not guilty.
Former detective Brett Hankison denied three counts of senseless endangering at a Kentucky court hearing Monday.
Emergency medicine worker Breonna Taylor was shot when officers broke into her Louisville home on March 13.
Last week, a grand jury decided that no officer should face direct criminal charges in his death.
The charges Hankison faces relate to shooting at adjoining apartments during the narcotics bust.
Under Kentucky law, someone is guilty of wanton endangering if they commit an act that shows “extreme disregard for the value of human life.”
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The death of Ms. Taylor and the subsequent decision not to charge any officer with murder or manslaughter have led to repeated protests from Black Lives Matter in Louisville.
Hankison was charged last week on Wednesday and released on bail. He will then appear in court on Oct. 28 for a pre-trial hearing, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
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Breonna Taylor, 26, was an emergency medical technician.
If convicted, he faces a five-year sentence for each of the three counts.
Hankison was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June after investigators discovered he had “fired 10 rounds senselessly and blindly” during the raid, according to his termination letter.
Two other officers who participated in the raid, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, were reassigned to administrative duties.
Ms. Taylor’s family members and her legal team have asked a judge to release the grand jury transcript.
The 26-year-old was shot eight times when officers entered her Louisville apartment on March 13.
They were executing a search warrant as part of a drug investigation, but no drugs were found on the property.
