Topeka will pay a hefty legal fee to defend police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Taylor Lowery, a Black man.

The Topeka City Council approved a contract with the Watkins Calara law firm. The city will pay $225 per hour to the primary attorney on the case, $200 per hour for associates and $125 per hour for legal assistants. The city estimated the cost to the attorneys will be more than $50,000.

Council members David Banks and Christina Valdivia-Alcalá voted against the contract, with Valdivia-Alcalá criticizing the city.

"I believe that these types of cases where there continues to be the killing, the brutal killings of Black males by our police force, I think something is going to have to change," Valdivia-Alcalá said. "Whether that's the releasing of body cam footage, being more open with the community on what's going on, looking seriously at de-escalation and use of force, etc., etc.

"Sometimes we are going to have to negotiate a settlement rather than trying this to death in court."

Banks asked whether the city defends employees even if they know wrongful action occurred.

Topeka is legally obligated to defend any employee of the city if they are being prosecuted or sued over a work-related action, said Nick Jefferson, chief of litigation.

The death of Taylor Lowery

On Oct, 13, 2022, five police officers shot and killed Lowery . They said they fired because he was carrying a knife.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay concluded police acted justifiably in firing 34 shots that killed Lowery, whom Kagay said carried a knife when police initially shot him, then dropped it and picked up a wrench before additional shots were fired.

The city refused to release the body cam footage, but it was released to reporters by LaRonna Lassiter Saunders, an attorney representing Lowery's family members in the wrongful death suit against Topeka's city government and others.