Tyler Perry has donated $100,000 to a GoFundMe page set up for Kenneth Walker, Blavity has confirmed. The film and television mogul donated four different amounts totaling the six-digit figure earlier this week.
Perry’s donations helped Walker surpass his $100,000 goal. The initial donation was $10,000, then he sent another $10,000, followed by $50,000 and $30,000, respectively.
Walker is the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman killed after officers executed a no-knock search warrant at her apartment on March 13 to investigate a suspected drug dealer, who police claimed had retrieved a package at Taylor’s house. No drugs were found in Taylor’s apartment, as Blavity previously reported.
Walker initially faced attempted murder charges for firing his legally-obtained firearm that night in the direction of police. In September, the 28-year-old filed a civil suit against the police department, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine and the Louisville Area Governmental Self-Insurance Trust, as Blavity previously reported. The lawsuit lists a litany of allegations, including, “assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence related to the actions of officers during the raid.”
Jacob Romines organized the fundraising page on Walker’s behalf to aid his upcoming legal battle against one of the officers.
“It’s outrageous for one of the men partially responsible for all that to sue the man who endured it,” the initial post on the GoFundMe page read. “The raid that killed Breonna Taylor was poorly conceived, nightmarishly executed, and hastily covered-up. The subsequent grand jury proceedings were farcical and staged. Daniel Cameron’s statements were disingenuous, at best. Jon Mattingly’s lawsuit is the nearly-unbelievable next step in this ongoing mockery of justice.”
Perry's charitable act is par for the course for the mogul, as he is not only famous for his beloved films and television shows, but he is also a generous philanthropist.
In December 2018, Perry paid off over $430,000 in layaway balances for customers at two different Walmart stores in Atlanta, according to CNN. Perry also covered the funeral expenses for Tynesha Evans, who had been tragically killed by a former lover in Georgia, in March 2019. Evans left behind four children. Perry covered the living expenses for the family, paid for the daughter’s college tuition and flew Evans’ body back to Wisconsin so her family could participate in funeral services.
