On August 20, 2024, 37-year-old Kyle Earl Higgins of Topeka, Kansas, was found unresponsive in the 2200 block of Southwest 29th Street and later died of life-threatening injuries. Earlier that morning police had responded to an armed vehicle robbery near Southwest 29th Street and Macvicar Avenue in which a child was inside the car; the child was located unharmed shortly after. Officers later spotted the stolen vehicle near Southeast 35th and Indiana and tried to make a traffic stop. The driver fled, a short pursuit ended when the vehicle struck a pole near Southeast 29th and Minnesota, and two suspects ran but were quickly taken into custody and treated for non-life-threatening crash injuries.

Investigators linked Higgins’ death to the armed robbery and the subsequent chase. Two Topeka men, Lorenzo A. Pattmon III, 21, and Rammelo H. Boatwright, 24, were arrested on charges including first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and aggravated child endangerment; reports note Boatwright was on parole and Pattmon on probation at the time. Lorenzo A. Pattmon III was later found guilty of the murder of Kyle Higgins.

If anyone knew Kyle, saw activity around Southwest 29th Street that morning, or has information about the robbery and chase, please share what is known.