Tyler Perry donates $100,000 to defense of Breonna Taylor's former boyfriend

Kenneth Walker, the former boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who was killed in the crossfires of a no-knock police raid in Kentucky in March, has received $100,000 in legal defense funds from Tyler Perry, TMZ reports.

The billionaire Hollywood actor and filmmaker donated the money in four separate payments. He first made two payments of $10,000, a payment of $50,000, and a final installment of $30,000." The payments were made within minutes of each other and allowed Walker's legal defense fund to quickly surpass the $100,000 fundraising goal on their GoFundMe page.

The donation provides a major boost to Walker, who was initially struggling to raise funds for his legal defense.

Walker's Louisville, Kentucky apartment was subject to a no-knock raid on suspicion of drug trafficking earlier this year while he and his girlfriend were sleeping. Walker, a licensed gun owner, claims that he believed police to be intruders in his home and open fired on the officers, resulting in one of them being injured. Breonna Taylor, Walker's girlfriend at the time, was killed by police in the crossfire.

The police were wearing plainclothes at the time, but claimed that they announced themselves as police when they entered the apartment, a claim which Walker and his neighbours dispute.

While no drugs were found in Walker's apartment, the Louisville resident was charged with attempted murder for shooting at the officers. The charges were later dropped. He is now being sued by one of the officers involved in the raid, Jonathan Mattingly, for trauma and emotional distress.

Walker's lawyer, Steve Romines, described Mattingly's lawsuit as a "baseless attempt to further victimize and harass Kenny."

"Kenny Walker is protected by law under KRS 503.085 and is immune from both criminal prosecution and civil liability as he was acting in self defense in his own home," the lawyer said in a statement.

Taylor's death resulted in a huge public outcry resulting in legislative and administrative reforms in both Kentucky and in the United States. Republican Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul responded to her death by introducing the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, which would create a national prohibition on no-knock raids.