Jul 08 2008
Family May Sue CMPD for Teen Taser Death
If you live in the Charlotte area you may recall this incident back in March. Darryl Wayne Turner was a 17 year old employee at a Food Lion in north Charlotte who died as a result of being shocked with a Taser gun by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer. The police were called to the scene when Turner became unruly with members of the management, cursing and screaming at them and attempting to assault them by throwing objects at them. He was shocked with the Taser when he disobeyed an order by the police officer and began advancing towards him. The death was accidental, but the family’s attorney, Ken Harris, is now considering a civil suit against the CMPD.
Ken Harris is exactly the type of ambulance chasing sleaze bag that has given lawyers a bad name. While I feel bad for the kid’s mother, Turner got exactly what was coming to him. He was engaging in threatening behavior and advanced on a police officer, a very dangerous situation for all present. What else was the officer supposed to do? He didn’t intend to kill the kid. If he did he would have just shot him. The death resulting from the Taser hit, while unfortunate, was nothing more than accidental and the family has no justifiable cause to collect anything from the city taxpayers. Harris is just seeing the dollar signs. Morals and ethics need not apply.
The Charlotte Observer has a run down of what happened that day:
Turner’s mother, Tammy Fontenot, said her son had come home for lunch on March 20 and told her he’d stolen a couple of Hot Pockets from the store. He was afraid of getting into trouble, but she told him to go back and admit what he had done.
Goodenow said Monday that when Turner returned to the grocery after lunch, a supervisor told him to remove the sucker from his mouth and tuck in his shirt. The teenager began cursing, the prosecutor said.
The supervisor called the store manager to report what was happening. She said Turner was cursing and angry, and told the manager she felt threatened and was going to call police.
After the manager arrived, Turner began taunting him to get him to fight, Goodenow said. He threw a plastic counter-top display at the manager, she said, then picked up an umbrella and threw that at the manager. Then he advanced on the manager who was behind the customer service desk.
Goodenow said a witness recalled the police officer, who had witnessed at least part of the confrontation with the manager, yelling: “Freeze. Don’t move. Stay where you are.”
Turner then began walking toward the officer, who had already pulled his Taser. When Turner was a few feet from Dawson, the officer fired the Taser.
Goodenow said Turner’s body stiffened after being shocked, but the teen kept walking. When Turner got to the front of the store he tossed a metal grocery bag holder, she said.
It’s unclear when the officer fired again or how long the shock lasted.
The video doesn’t show where Turner fell to the ground, Goodenow said. A witness said the teenager, while on the floor, still wasn’t complying with the officer’s commands to put his hands behind his back and roll over, the prosecutor said.
“He gave the officer a look like he was going to break him in half…,” the manager told police. “I don’t know what was bothering him, but he was not himself.
“The officer told him he needed to stop. And that’s the last warning you’re going to get. And he just kept on going.”
The only one at fault here clearly was Darryl Wayne Turner and he paid for it with his life.
I seriously doubt that Harris intends to take this to court. He is banking on the fact that Char-Meck will pay an “undisclosed amount” to avoid the hassle and expense of a courtroom battle.