27 February 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) — Today, the families of Christopher D. Kelley and Taylor L. Lowery hosted a press conference, calling for the body camera footage to be released.
The City and the District Attorney’s office has refused to release the footage as it has been deemed not necessary for public interest as the killings were deemed justified. Documents provided by the City of Topeka showed that past requests for the body cam footage of Lowery and Kelley’s deaths were rejected under K.S.A. 45-221(a)(10).
The families called for police reform to properly educate and train law enforcement to stop the unnecessary killings of black and brown residents.
27 News met with Taylor Lowery’s mother, Belinda Thomas, who asked for justice for her son.
“Just want justice for my son,” Thomas said. “And like they tell us all the time, if you do the crime, you must do the time.”
The families call for the public to help assist them in holding the city and police departments accountable for releasing the footage so it can lead to change and justice for the parties involved.
The families and legal representation reiterated multiple times that they are not against the police, they believe their needs to be more educating, training and measures to help prevent tragedies like this.
Hopefully, unfortunate tragedies like this can lead to progress and change for our community to prevent them from occurring.