06/05/2026
June 5 is the anniversary of the birth of Breonna Taylor in 1993. Long before Taylor, former Louisville emergency medical technician (EMT), became a hashtag, a rallying cry for justice, and the smiling face on refrigerator magnets, she was a big sister who snuggled in bed with her little sister watching scary movies.
Taylor, shot and killed in her apartment by Louisville police in the nascent moments of March 13, was a daughter, a godmother, a niece, and a best friend who dreamed of caring for the tiniest, most helpless of humans. Today would have been Taylor’s 32nd birthday.
As both federal and local law enforcement officials investigated how Taylor died, family members and her best friend spoke with NBC News about how she lived. “She did right by everybody,” said her sister, confidante, and roommate, Ju’Niyah Palmer. “Literally she goes out her way for everybody. She would go above and beyond.
Until 2016, she served as an emergency medical technician for Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services. “She loved the adrenaline and she loved the ‘Quick let’s hurry up and get this person. Let’s make sure they’re OK,” Ju’Niyah said. “She loved the whole hands-on, ‘I'm helping a patient. Just helping somebody else smile made her smile.” Her EMT shifts could be 15 hours long, Ju’Niyah said.
Taylor is the lone woman in a triune tragedy that sparked outrage across the nation and the globe. Protesters marched in anger over African Americans repeatedly dying at the hands of white police officers. “People need to know,” her mother, Tamika Palmer, said on Good Morning America, “that Breonna Taylor mattered and Breonna Taylor was great.” Learn more about the life and legacy of Breonna Taylor: https://ow.ly/6f2R50Z6qvZ
Photo from NBC News, courtesy of the Taylor Family
