Breonna Taylor‘s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, received a helping hand from filmmaker Tyler Perry after being sued by the Louisville Metro Police Department officer involved in a shooting that led to his girlfriend’s death in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020.
On Sunday, Dec. 13, TMZ reported that the “Why Did I Get Married” creator donated $100,000 to the GoFundMe page created on behalf of Walker to help raise funds for his legal battle against Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly.
Perry’s contribution was made in four separate transactions on Sunday, Dec. 13, to help the fund exceed its $100,000 goal. The Hollywood director first made two individual donations for $10K, then a $50K deposit, and finally a $30K input.
“It’s outrageous for one of the men partially responsible for all that, to sue the man who endured it,” the description on the GoFundMe page read. It continued, “The raid that killed Breonna Taylor was poorly conceived, nightmarishly executed, and hastily covered-up. The subsequent grand jury proceedings were farcical and staged. Daniel Cameron’s statements were disingenuous, at best. Jon Mattingly’s lawsuit is the nearly-unbelievable next step in this ongoing mockery of justice.”
Mattingly was one of the three plainclothes Louisville Metro Police officers, including Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove, at Breonna Taylor’s on the night of the botched March 13 raid. Mattingly was shot in the leg by 27-year-old Walker as officers attempted to serve a no-knock warrant at Taylor’s apartment. Walker was initially facing criminal charges of attempted murder and assault, but those charges were dismissed in May 2020.
In his suit, Mattingly claimed that Walker caused him “severe trauma, mental anguish, and emotional distress” the night the 26-year-old EMT worker was killed. The claim also called Walker’s conduct in shooting Mattingly “outrageous, intolerable, and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality.”
Mattingly’s stunning countersuit was in response to one Walker filed against the city of Louisville, its police department, and Kentucky’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron on Sept. 1.
Walker is suing for false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence, assault and battery.
Walker’s legal team, which is also seeking immunity from prosecution for the young man, called Mattingly’s lawsuit just another attempt to relinquish responsibility for talking Taylor’s life.