Examiner says Taser did not cause death - Black Man Hog Tied and Shocked 5 Times

• "Are we supposed to believe that a healthy 31-year-old Black man who was athletic, who did not drink or do drugs, who had no history of heart problems, somehow died of a heart attack?"

Five shocks to the chest with a Taser gun did not cause the death of a man injured in a scuffle with sheriff's deputies, a medical examiner's report concluded Wednesday. Frederick Jerome Williams, 31, a Liberian native who lived in Lawrenceville, died of brain damage from a heart attack after the altercation in May, according to the final autopsy report in the case. But investigators at the Gwinnett County medical examiner's office were not able to determine what caused Williams' heart attack, according to the report. "The cause of death is brain damage -- lack of oxygen and/or blood to the brain -- due to a heart attack of uncertain etiology [unknown reasons]," said Forensic Investigator Ted Bailey. "There is no evidence the Taser directly caused or contributed to his death." Williams was the second Gwinnett inmate in eight months to die after being shocked with a stun gun in a scuffle with deputies. Members of Williams' family were disappointed by the autopsy report, said Melvin Johnson, the family's attorney."Four children ages 1 to 9 are left without a daddy and all they can say is they don't know how he died," said Johnson.  Johnson said it is hard to believe Williams' death "had nothing to do with him being hog-tied and shocked five times with a Taser and placed in a restraint chair." Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway said  "I've looked into the Taser as deeply as I can and I don't think it can cause death." [more ]

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