A former US police officer has been convicted by a federal jury of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during a botched drug bust that left her dead.

Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was sleeping with her boyfriend in Louisville, Kentuckyin March 2020, when police conducted a “no-knock” raid and broke down her apartment door.

Fearing someone was breaking his boyfriend, he fired a single shot, wounding an officer.

The officers then returned fire and six shots struck Ms. Taylor, killing her.

Police were looking for Ms Taylor’s ex-partner, who did not live at the address. No drugs were found in the property.

Ms Taylor’s death and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis later this year fueled protests in the US and around the world in the summer of 2020.

On Friday, a 12-member jury convicted Brett Hankison of using excessive force on Ms Taylor, but acquitted him of using excessive force on her neighbours.

Hankison fired 10 shots into Ms Taylor’s glass door and windows during the raid but did not hit anyone.

Some of the shots hit a neighbor’s apartment next door.

Hankison is the first former Louisville police officer involved in the deadly raid to be convicted.

Conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The 48-year-old claimed he was acting to protect his fellow officers after Ms Taylor’s boyfriend fired on them.

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Of the three officers who fired their weapons during the raid, only Hankison faced criminal charges.

The Kentucky attorney general did not recommend charges against them, and they were not indicted by the grand jury.

In 2022, a state court acquitted Hankison of endangering Ms. Taylor’s neighbors by firing a gun.