Community members remember Katelyn Hall, demand change after mental health call turned deadly
Updated: 3:20 PM EDT Apr 4, 2026
The Kentucky Alliance, VOCAL_KY, and other community organizations held a press conference Saturday, following the police shooting that led to the death of a Louisville woman in a mental health crisis.Just over a week ago, on March 27, Louisville Metro Police responded to a mental health call, eventually shooting and killing 28-year-old Katelyn Hall. Body-worn camera footage from the incident was released Friday afternoon during an LMPD press conference regarding the shooting. Saturday afternoon, community members, mental health professionals, and the family of Katelyn Hall spoke out. K. A. Owens, a co-chair for the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, spoke during the press conference emphasizing the necessity for care over force from first responders, “The fatal shooting of Katelyn Hall by the Louisville Metro Police Department is a heartbreaking reminder of a system that too often responds to mental health crisis with force,” Owens continued saying, “mental illness is not a crime punishable by death.”Katelyn Hall’s family, through the family’s spokesperson Shaun Spencer, said, “She was more than a headline, more than a moment, she was a daughter, sister, granddaughter, and she was deeply loved,” and, “She needed care, she needed patience, she needed trained support. Instead, what she received cost her her life.” “Love and support must be matched with action,” Katelyn’s family called for change and reform, ” must push us and others to do better, to train better, to respond better, not to see people in crisis as a threat but as human beings in need.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
The Kentucky Alliance, VOCAL_KY, and other community organizations held a press conference Saturday, following the police shooting that led to the death of a Louisville woman in a mental health crisis.
Just over a week ago, on March 27, Louisville Metro Police responded to a mental health call, eventually shooting and killing 28-year-old Katelyn Hall.
Body-worn camera footage from the incident was released Friday afternoon during an LMPD press conference regarding the shooting.
Saturday afternoon, community members, mental health professionals, and the family of Katelyn Hall spoke out.
K. A. Owens, a co-chair for the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, spoke during the press conference emphasizing the necessity for care over force from first responders, “The fatal shooting of Katelyn Hall by the Louisville Metro Police Department is a heartbreaking reminder of a system that too often responds to mental health crisis with force,” Owens continued saying, “mental illness is not a crime punishable by death.”
Katelyn Hall’s family, through the family’s spokesperson Shaun Spencer, said, “She was more than a headline, more than a moment, she was a daughter, sister, granddaughter, and she was deeply loved,” and, “She needed care, she needed patience, she needed trained support. Instead, what she received cost her her life.”
“Love and support must be matched with action,” Katelyn’s family called for change and reform, “[Katie’s life] must push us and others to do better, to train better, to respond better, not to see people in crisis as a threat but as human beings in need.”