LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The WHAS11 FOCUS investigative team has obtained a full autopsy report on the death of Breonna Taylor from the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
The report shows bullets pierced Taylor's chest, lung, arm and foot. Among her most serious wounds, according to medical experts consulted: a shot to a major blood vessel connecting to the heart, or main pulmonary artery.
"It’s a devastating wound...I don’t know I couldn’t tell you what the survivability rate of a wound like that would be exactly but my experience, seeing far too many people shot in that area over my lifetime, I can tell you it’s tremendously low," said Alex Payne, a retired Kentucky State Police deputy commissioner.
Medical experts the FOCUS team spoke to said about 1% of people survive a shot to the main pulmonary artery.
Confirmation about exactly how Taylor died has been limited. Citing an FBI report, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Wednesday that it was likely Det. Myles Cosgrove who fired the bullet that killed her.
But, Cameron said his office's investigation concluded that Cosgrove was following protocols, acting in self-defense after Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. Walker and his lawyers have stated that he believed police were intruders.
Taylor was struck by a total of five bullets, a sixth 'firearm projectile' was also removed from her foot, according to the report.
The attorney general said Taylor likely died from the fatal shot within two minutes.
In addition to the location of Taylor’s wounds, the autopsy report also reveals she was wearing a necklace with a grey metal heart pendant when she died.
Taylor's sister, Juniyah Palmer, said the heart-shaped necklace she was wearing when she died was a keepsake from their grandmother, who passed away three years ago. She said it reflects the love Taylor always had for her family, and she hopes new details that come to light about her death bring her family closer to getting justice.
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