Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Taser Case
Posted by
Christina ColeFebruary 02, 2007 7:14 PMThe Mother of a Toledo man who died after being shocked multiple times with a Taser has filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court against Toledo and Lucas County Officers.
Better Turner alleges in the suit the Toledo Police and Lucas County Sheriff's employees violated the civil rights of her son, Jeffrey Turner, who died on January 31, 2005, after being shocked nine times with a stun guns.
Turner's death is subject to an ongoing criminal investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for possible civil rights violations. In April, 2005, the FBI agreed to review the incident, after a request made by David Taylor III, Toledo NAACP president and civil rights activist.
The suit defendants - nine Toledo officers, two sheriff's deputies and a corrections officer - also named in the 2006, lawsuit Ms. Turner filed in Lucas County Please Court.
Due to the federal investigation, Judge Gary Cook, who is handling the Common Pleas complaint, yesterday continued a stay in the cause until May.
Turner was shocked five times outside the Toledo Museum of Art after Police investigating a loitering complaint said he refused to identify himself or to comply with officers. Hours later he was shocked four additional times after deputies said he became violent in his jail cell.
He was found unresponsive a short time after and died in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.
An autopsy by the Lucas County coroner's office showed Turner had pre-existing heart disease, but the Taser shocks contributed to his death, which was ruled a homicide. The lawsuit in federal court, which was assigned to Judge David Katz, claims the defendants' "deliberate, willful, and wanton misconduct'' in shocking Turner was unlawful, excessive, and unreasonable use of force.