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| Inmate death prompts questions about safety of stun guns |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/31/2004 |
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For the second time in eight months, an inmate at the Gwinnett County (Ga.) Detention Center died after being shocked with a stun gun. Frederick Williams, 31, was taken to jail last Tuesday after a domestic incident at his Lawrenceville home. Police used a Taser on Williams after he fought with police, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. Williams died at the hospital last Thursday morning. Williams' wife reported he was "talking crazy" and that he had not taken his epilepsy medication. Police reports state he complained of swallowing his tongue. He also told his wife she had the devil in her and locked her out of the house before police arrived. When police arrived, they noted he was "sweaty" and "agitated." He began calling an officer the devil and grabbed his baton and threw it at him before running back into his house. Authorities finally subdued him after kicking in his garage door. They transported him to the detention center. Williams fought with deputies all the way into the building, sheriff's spokeswoman Stacey Kelley said. Deputies then shocked him twice while trying to put him into a restraining chair, she said. Seconds later, Williams' heart stopped. Deputies tried to revive him, Kelley said, but he had to be transported to the hospital where he died about 36 hours later. The Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office and the sheriff's department are investigating the incident. District Attorney Danny Porter said his office is trying to determine if officers are criminally negligent. The American Civil Liberties Union has denounced the use of stun guns after a study in Colorado showed at least 30 inmates had been killed by the devices since 2001. |
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