Tyler Perry is known for supporting causes he believes in. The highest-paid man in entertainment recently put his weight behind one of the most objectified civil legal battles in the country to help Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of the late Breonna Taylor.
According to TMZ, Perry gave four sizable sums totaling $100,000 to Walker's defense fund in the case against a Louisville police officer. The donations were made to a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Walker. Perry reportedly made two $10,000 donations, followed by a $50,000 donation and then $30,000, which was reportedly the GoFundMe page's total goal.
An officer involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor filed the suit against the 26-year-old Walker for emotional distress, assault and battery stemming from the night she was killed. The lawsuit claims Louisville Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly experienced "severe trauma, mental anguish, and emotional distress" because of Kenneth Walker's actions on March 13.
Mattingly, along with two other officers entered Taylor's apartment early in the morning that day with a warrant in an attempt to carry out a drug investigation. Walker, who said he thought the officers were intruders, fired a shot that hit Mattingly in the leg. Police opened fire, killing Taylor. Taylor had no criminal record and no drugs were found.
Walker filed a counter lawsuit against Mattingly and LMPD saying he would "No longer remain silent." The suit filed by Walker's attorney Steve Romine seeks unspecified monetary damages from the city and Louisville Metro Police Department for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence. “Kenny continues to reel from the death of the love of his life, but he is also the victim and survivor of police misconduct — misconduct that threatens his freedom to this day,” the complaint says.
"We know police are firing wildly from various angles," Romines said at a press conference on Sept. 1. "The timeline and evidence at the scene is more indicative of (police) actually shooting Mattingly than it is Kenny Walker."
The case was investigated by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the FBI for possible action against the officers, but a grand jury decided on Sept. 23 not bring charges against the officers in Taylor's killing.