Topeka Police Department, City of Topeka slapped with Wrongful death lawsuit

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Topeka Police Department and the City of Topeka in connection to a 2022 case involving a Topeka man who was shot and killed by Topeka Police Department officers.

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Topeka Police Department and the City of Topeka in connection to a 2022 case involving a Topeka man who was shot and killed by Topeka Police Department officers.

On Oct. 13, 2022, Taylor Lowery, 33, was killed following a domestic disturbance at his family’s southeast Topeka home. According to findings released by the Shawnee County Attorney’s Office on Jan. 25, 2023, Topeka police responded to a call from Lowery’s sister that he was armed with a knife and attempting to force his way into the her bedroom.

“As far as trying to get information and answers to it, it’s been thrown in different directions. It’s a lot of emotions,” said Da’Mabrius Duncan.

After barricading himself inside the home, DA investigators said Lowery drove to a gas station where he tried to carjack a woman at knifepoint. There, police shot and killed Lowery after they said he charged at them with a knife.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay’s report stated the incident began with a police call that Lowery, armed with a knife, was breaking into a mobile home.

The report states officers found him, still holding the knife, outside the Kwik Shop, trying to steal a car with two women and an infant inside. Authorities say he refused commands, came toward officers with the knife, and they fired.

Following investigations by both the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Michael Kagay announced his office would not file criminal charges against the officers involved.

But the family says the official reports contain contradictions.

“This lawsuit did not have to happen. For the last year and a half, almost two years, we’ve just been trying to get access to the video and it’s important because a story was put out by the DA with pictures in a narrative that was not true,” said LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, Family Advocate, Lassiter Law and Justice, LLC.

According to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, the events that transpired that day do not line up with the findings in the DA’s report.

DA investigators reported the officers who initially responded to the disturbance at the home saw Lowery through a window, knocked on the door and announced themselves as police. The officers said they could hear someone inside yelling for them to kick down the door. They said a child then opened the door and the officers entered the residence.

On Saturday morning, Aug. 3, during the City of Topeka’s Public Input Session for a new Topeka Police chief, the family’s attorney said it’s hard to have the community respond positively to officers when they don’t feel they are being respected.

“I think it would be more beneficial if a chief came in here and said, ‘What can we do for the community, how can we serve the community,’ and not, ‘How can we make the community like us’,” said Paeten Denning, Attorney, Denning Law Firm LLC.

“That’s why I feel the city’s chief of police would be a help if they can get on the inside and have some transparency with everything,” said Duncan.

The lawsuit alleges the two officers who responded to the initial disturbance call spoke to a child who answered the door when they arrived on scene. The child then allegedly shut the door. The officers then reportedly kick in the door and forced entry into the house without a search warrant.

Once inside, the lawsuit states officers made contact with Lowery’s sister who told them Lowery had a knife and was acting abnormally. It alleges Lowery did not threaten to harm the officers or demonstrate any violent or aggressive action toward them.

The DA’s report states the officers commanded Lowery to drop the knife and cooperate, but Lowery did not comply and ran out the back door. A still image from one officer’s body camera shows Lowery standing outside the home holding what appears to be a large butcher knife in one hand and another object identified in the report as a socket wrench in the other hand.

The family said their lawsuit aims to ensure something like this never happens again.

“I think anytime you have someone that loses a life in the community it’s definitely in the public’s interest to know what happened. Yes, we’re dealing with an African American male in this situation, but that could be anyone and if this was your family — would you want to know what happened, or would you just want to go off the still shots that the DA released,” said LaRonna Lassiter Saunders.

The report states Lowery reportedly reentered the residence and the officers followed. Still images from the same officer’s body camera show Lowery standing inside, still holding the knife. The officers reported Lowery came toward them with the knife before he left out the back door.

Lowery then got into a vehicle and drove to a gas station in the 4500 block of Southwest Topeka Boulevard. The responding officers followed, radioing to dispatch they believed Lowery was armed with a knife and they were in need of assistance. Multiple other officers heard the call and headed that way. They spotted Lowery’s vehicle and followed him to the gas station.

Lowery arrived at the gas station and got out of the vehicle. According to the DA’s report, officers on the scene saw Lowery attempt to violently pull a woman from her vehicle. They called in an attempted carjacking to dispatch.

The victim of the attempted carjacking told police she, another person and her granddaughter were sitting in their car when a man banged on the window, opened the door and yelled at her to get out. Then he grabbed her and tried to pull her from the vehicle. She said he held a big knife to her stomach and side. When he saw the the police officers, she said he raised the knife and began shaking it. She told investigators she would have been stabbed if the officers had not saved her. Her passenger and multiple witnesses gave police a similar account of what happened.

The officers told investigators they yelled commands at Lowery, but he screamed, raised the knife above his head and charged toward a sergeant. The sergeant and a police detective said they fired their weapons at Lowery and he went down. The report states Lowery got up and began moving toward the sergeant again, this time with the socket wrench in his hand.

Officers told investigators they believed the object was the knife, and in fear for safety of other officers and civilians, they fired at Lowery. Lowery went down again and died at the scene.

The lawsuit disputes these statements, alleging Lowery did not have anything in his hands when he exited the vehicle and makes no mention of the attempted carjacking. When the officers arrived, the plaintiff claims Lowery ran toward the gas station and another vehicle while officers surrounded the parking lot.

The lawsuit claims officers disarmed Lowery of the knife after he arrived at the gas station. Then, the officers reportedly grabbed Lowery, causing him to drop the wrench and fall backward. When Lowery bent over to pick up the wrench, the lawsuit claims another officer who had just arrived on scene began shooting at him.

The lawsuit claims the officer who initially shot Lowery was in training and opened fire less than 15 seconds after arriving on scene while other officers on either side of Lowery were giving him commands. The family said no members of the public were near Lowery, and he did not take any aggressive action toward officers before they shot him. The lawsuit alleges the officers who shot Lowery knew he was not holding a knife.

Lowery’s family said they have submitted requests to the City of Topeka and KBI through the Kansas Open Records Act for copies of documents of evidence related to the shooting as well as police body camera video of the incident. They only received a two-page redacted standard offense report.

The family alleges the officers lacked probable cause to kill Lowery because he did not pose a significant threat of death or serious injury to the officers or the public. They accuse police of using more force than was reasonably necessary and of violating Lowery’s 14th Amendment rights. The family is seeking a jury trial on the matter.

The City of Topeka released a statement in response to the lawsuit.

The city takes claims of this nature very seriously. The shooting in question was investigated by the KBI and their findings were reviewed by the District Attorney. The city will vigorously defend the suit and has full faith that the justice system will resolve this matter. Due to pending litigation, and in order to not further prejudice the process, the city has no additional comment.Dan Garret, Director of Communications & Media Relations, City of Topeka

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