Topeka Police say death of 20yo man is considered suspicious

Topeka Police say the death of 20-year-old Keaton B. Knutsen is being considered suspicious, as they continue to investigate his death.

Police found the body of Knutsen after they were called around 5:14 p.m. Saturday to the White Lakes Plaza Apartments in the 3700 block of S.W. Plaza Drive.

When officers arrived on scene, they found a person later identified as Knutsen who was deceased.

On Wednesday, Topeka Police Public Relations Specialist Gretchen Koenen, confirmed for the first time that the death was considered suspicious, but are not calling it a homicide at this time.

Four days before Knutsen's body was found, Joheem Meredith, an 18-year-old Topeka West High School senior, was fatally wounded in the west parking lot of the same apartment complex.

Munoz said at this time, police don't believe there is any connection between Knutsen and Meredith's deaths.

Meredith's slaying was the ninth of 2020 in Topeka.

Another case in which a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper shot and killed a man on Feb. 4 in an incident on the north edge of downtown Topeka isn't included in that number.

Anyone with information on any of the cases may call Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.