Jonathan Adams

Black Teenager Killed by Cop’s Taser

h/t Electronic Village

Another fatal police shooting in this country, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina. Another young Black man dead, and this time he was killed by a taser. But like the Sean Bell and Michael Byoune cases, there seems to be no accountability by police.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer will not be prosecuted in the case of a 17-year-old grocery store worker who died in March after being shocked with a Taser.

Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney Marsha Goodenow said Monday Officer Jerry Dawson Jr. was justified in using the Taser on Darryl Wayne Turner during a confrontation at a Food Lion in north Charlotte. The prosecutor said a video camera at the grocery captured the confrontation between Turner and the police officer. The video shows the teen throwing items at the store manager, then moving toward the officer, she said.

“It’s clear he’s advancing on the officer,” Goodenow told the Observer. “The officer was justified in using the Taser – which he had been trained was non-deadly force – to control the situation. Unfortunately, it had very tragic results.” [Charlotte Observer]

The NYPD tried to present tasers as the safe alternative to firearms, but the death of one more young Black man at the hands of police proves that no matter the instrument deadly force can still be applied.

Posted at 11:06 AM, Jul 08, 2008 in Police | Permalink | View Comments