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Kentucky AG explains why Breonna Taylor case decision is taking so long

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Breonna Taylor FamilyBy KARMA ALLEN and SABINA GHEBREMEDHIN, ABC News

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Kentucky officials offered new details on Friday in the investigation into the death of Breonna Taylor, a young Black medical worker who was fatally shot in Louisville, Ky., by plainclothes police officers who had entered her home.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has said little about the case since taking over the investigation in May amid ongoing protests and calls for immediate charges against the officers involved.

Taylor’s death on March 13 helped ignite civil unrest across the country as people protested against racism and police brutality. Louisville police officers had executed a no-knock search warrant and used a battering ram to forcefully enter the young woman’s apartment. She was not the person they were looking for, according to police.

Amid mounting pressure for a decision in the probe, Cameron reiterated his commitment to the case, but he said investigators were still gathering information.

In a statement Friday, the AG’s office said it was still waiting for key evidence, specifically related to the guns and bullets involved in the shooting.

“Attorney General Cameron remains committed to an independent and thorough investigation into the death of Ms. Taylor,” the office said in a statement Friday. “The investigation remains ongoing, and we currently await additional testing and analysis from federal partners, including a ballistics test from the FBI crime lab.”

The FBI confirmed that it collected a “significant amount of ballistic evidence” after searching Taylor’s home in June.

“As many saw on June 19th, FBI Louisville returned to Breonna Taylor’s apartment to execute a federal search warrant,” FBI officials told ABC News in a statement Friday. “Over two days of searching, the FBI collected a significant amount of ballistic evidence and completed a shooting reconstruction. This evidence is being tested and analyzed at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.”

Cameron has routinely refused to put a timeline on his office’s decision.

Officers had executed a no-knock entry “due to the nature of how these drug traffickers operate,” according to the arrest warrant obtained by ABC News.

Taylor was accused of accepting USPS packages for an ex-boyfriend whom police were investigating as an alleged drug trafficker who used her address, according to the warrant.

Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, got out of bed around midnight when they heard a commotion outside. After a short exchange with police, Walker says he fired his gun in self-defense, saying he thought the home was being broken into, according to police.

The plainclothes officers returned gunfire, firing several shots and fatally hitting Taylor, police said.

Attorneys for Taylor’s estate claimed that more than 20 shots were fired into her apartment, hitting her multiple times.

“I haven’t had time to sit and grieve,” Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, told ABC News in June. “I’m still trying to figure out why my daughter was killed. I’m still trying to figure out, why did it have to come to her being murdered. Why did Breonna have to die?”

ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Hulu announces new slate of new shows, documentaries, horror series

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Hulu(LOS ANGELES) — During Friday’s Hulu Press Tour, the streaming service unveiled its slate of original upcoming programming, including new and returning series.

Hulu announced the semi-animated comedy series Woke starring Lamorne Morris as well as No Man‘s Land, the dramatic tale of the Syrian civil war.

It also touted full-series orders of the documentary food series The Next Thing You Eat, starring James Beard Award-Winning Chef David Chang, as well as the ripped-from-the-headlines limited series The Girl From Plainville. That project stars Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter, who was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging the suicide of her then-boyfriend via texts and phone calls.

Also on the docket are producer and star Selena Gomez, joining Steve Martin and Martin Short in Only Murders In The Building Alongside. Other upcoming Hulu Originals include Kate McKinnon in The Dropout, based on the ABC News investigative podcast of the same name, and the adaptation of the book Nine Perfect Strangers starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy.

Hulu’s returning slate also includes Love, Victor, as well as Padma Lakshmi’s foodie series Taste the Nation, plus second seasons of the middle school comedy Pen15, the new animated hit Solar Opposites, The Great, and more.

The streamer will also launch an eight-episode horror anthology called Monsterland, based on North-American Lake Monsters, a collection of short stories by Nathan Ballingrud and the documentary I Am Greta, centering on young activist Greta Thunberg.

A full schedule of everything that is coming to Hulu can be found on the website for the company, which is part-owned by ABC News’ parent company Disney.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cassadee Pope releases acoustic album Rise and Shine, opens up about her mental health

• No Comments • Country Music News

John ShearerCassadee Pope unveiled Rise and Shine this week, an eight-track acoustic album that she hopes will offer listeners an opportunity for self-reflection.

“Rise and Shine is a record that is meant to help people navigate their feelings in this trying time,” she explains. “Personally, it’s been a reflective time for me, and a lot of what I’ve reflected upon has brought up some dark moments.”

Cassadee delves further into those “dark moments” in a new interview with People, where she reveals that she’s had to overcome abandonment issues rooted in witnessing her parents’ divorce as a child.

“Seeing my dad leave and move on to a new family really quickly was hard. I think I brought that into my life now, where I have this overbearing sense of: I need to be interesting enough and good enough and funny enough and entertaining enough for people to stick around,” she reflects.

The singer cites therapy and a healthy relationship with her boyfriend — actor and performer Sam Palladio — as two critical tools that have helped her work towards more balanced mental health.

But she’s open about the fact that she continues to struggle with self-confidence and self-worth. Cassadee believes the title track might be a source of solace to listeners, particularly during the pandemic.

“I hope ‘Rise and Shine’ is one of those songs that gives them hope and lets people know that ‘Hey, through the darkest times we can get through it,’” she notes, “and we can find meaning in those times and really use it to our advantage.”

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

“I Ain’t Without You”: Tucker Beathard releases the song he wrote in tribute to his late younger brother

• No Comments • Country Music News

Warner Music NashvilleTucker Beathard grapples with the loss of his younger brother, Clay, in the gut-wrenching “I Ain’t Without You.”

Clay died in December of 2019 at the age of 22, after a stabbing altercation that took place outside a bar in downtown Nashville. In the difficult days and months that followed, Tucker turned to his most powerful sources of strength: Faith, songwriting and family ties.

“To be honest, I was always terrified of having someone so close to me pass away because I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to get through it on my own,” he admits.

The singer co-wrote “I Ain’t Without You” with his dad, noted country songwriter Casey Beathard. The song sheds light on Tucker’s journey through grief, and how his faith helped him realize that he didn’t have to carry his burden by himself.

“This song was inspired by the relationship I developed with the Lord following my little brother passing away and realizing that I don’t have the strength to go through this alone, but also realizing more than ever before that I’m not alone, and I am strong enough, but I ain’t without him,” he adds.

Tucker also shared a music video to go along with the song. He shot it at the Grand Ole Opry, where he first debuted “I Ain’t Without You” early this year.

The song is featured on Tucker’s upcoming album, King, which takes its title from Clay’s middle name.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cast of Netflix's 'Work It' is ready to join the ranks of dance movie classics

• No Comments • Entertainment News

Brendan Adam-Zwelling/Netflix(NEW YORK) — Work It is about to join the ranks of iconic teen dance movies like Save the Last Dance, Step Up and Center Stage.

The Netflix movie, out Friday, stars Sabrina Carpenter as Quinn, a straight-A student who starts her own dance team in the hopes of impressing her dream college. Only problem is, she can’t dance. But with the help of her dancer bestie Jasmine, played by Liza Koshy, and a talented choreographer Jake, played by Jordan Fisher, her team just might have a shot at winning the prestigious Work It dance competition.

For the cast, they were all fans of the dance movie genre to begin with, and were giddy at the prospect of getting to star in their own.

“I’ve been craving a dance movie and I was like, ‘I don’t know when they’re gonna make one next’ and then I accidentally ended up in one!” YouTube star Koshy tells ABC Audio.

“I’ve been wanting to see, like, our generation’s Channing Tatum and, uh, he looks a little different, but here he is,” she jokes, gesturing at herself.

Carpenter, who also executive produced the film and has a song called “Let Me Move You” on the soundtrack, adds that she’s excited for their movie to follow in the footsteps of the dance movies that came before.

“It’s been like a minute since we’ve had, like, a really feel good, come together unified dance movie full of like so many different kinds of people,” she says. “And I just think that the story of our film holds a lot of really great messages and at the same time is just funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously.” 

Work It is out on Netflix now.

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.