Death of Natasha McKenna

Natasha McKenna (January 9, 1978 – February 8, 2015) was an African-American woman who died while in police custody. The event was particularly notable because it was captured on video.[1][2] While no charges were filed against the deputies who tasered McKenna, the case became the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.[3]

Natasha McKenna
Born
Natasha J.C. McKenna

(1978-01-09)January 9, 1978
DiedFebruary 8, 2015(2015-02-08) (aged 37)
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Cause of deathCardiac arrest
Excited delirium
Children1

Early life

McKenna was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and depression when she was 14 years old.[4] She had a daughter who at the time of her death was 7 years old.[5]

Event

McKenna, a 37-year old woman, was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center by the Fairfax County Police Department and Fairfax County Sheriff's Office in Fairfax County, Virginia, due to an outstanding warrant issued over her suspected attack on a police officer.[6]

After initially cooperating with officials, there was a week-long delay in transporting McKenna back to Alexandria, where better assistance could be provided, namely, the resources (i.e., legal representation to petition for a mental health hold) that were required to be provided by the warrant-issuing city.[7] Due to the previous assault charge against her, she was restrained with handcuffs, arms behind her back, her legs shackled, and with a spit mask placed over her head. 17 minutes into the 45 minute struggle to extract her from her cell, McKenna, who was 130 lb (59 kg) and 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) tall, was tasered. A sheriff's deputy used a stun gun to taser her four times because she wouldn't bend her knees to be put into a wheeled restraint chair.[8] The specialized team that was called in to address her condition was attempting to ready her for transport to Alexandria, Virginia.[9] The team was made up of six members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team ("SERT") and was dressed in full-body biohazard suits and gas masks.[10]

Shortly after being tasered, McKenna suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness, but was resuscitated on the way to Inova Fairfax Hospital by emergency responders, was placed on life support, but was determined to be brain dead and was removed from life support after five days. She was pronounced dead on February 8, 2015.[1]

Response

The Fairfax County Sheriff Department, led by Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid, conducted an initial internal investigation, later assigned to the Fairfax County Police, which is responsible for investigations of prisoner deaths.[9] There were no criminal charges filed against the officers involved in McKenna's death.[11]

The Virginia medical examiner's office made the determination that McKenna's cause of death was accidental, due to excited delirium, but that it was linked to the use of the stun gun.[12] Use of the stun gun was questioned as being an excessive use of force on a restrained person.[12][13] The use of tasers was suspended by the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office in April 2015.[14][15]

The question of treating mentally ill prisoners became a focus of the discussion surrounding McKenna's death.[5]

The Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team ("SERT") records its work doing cell extractions of inmates by video,[7] and the video of McKenna's death was released by the Fairfax County Sheriff's office.[16][2]

There was a 51-page report[4] that was released by the attorney who represents the commonwealth of Fairfax County, Ray Morrogh.[10] A 110 page incident report was also made available.[17]

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other organizations based in social justice held a public protest in reaction to McKenna's death and the treatment of People of Color by police.[18]

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See also

References
  1. Jackman, Tom (13 April 2015). "The death of Natasha McKenna in the Fairfax jail: The rest of the story". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. Bidgood, Jess (10 September 2015). "Virginia Sheriff Releases Video of Effort to Subdue Inmate Who Died". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  3. "Virginia: No Charges for Deputies in Stun-Gun Death". The New York Times. The Associated Press. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  4. Morrogh, Raymond F. (8 September 2015). "Report of Investigation In-Custody Death. Date of Incident: 2/3/2015; Location: Fairfax County Adult Detention Center; Decendent: Natasha J.C. McKenna" (PDF). Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  5. Townes, Carimah (9 September 2015). "No Criminal Charges For Deputies Who Tased Shackled Woman With Four 50,000 Volt Shocks". Think Progress. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  6. Jouvenal, Justin (19 February 2015). "Va. inmate had been restrained, fitted with anti-spitting mask before death". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. Fox, Peggy (13 April 2015). "Fairfax Sheriff defends actions in apparent fatal Tasing". WUSA9. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  8. Jackman, Tom; Jouvenal, Justin (11 April 2015). "Fairfax jail inmate in Taser death was shackled". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  9. Jouvenal, Justin (8 February 2015). "Woman dies after a stun gun was used on her in the Fairfax County jail". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  10. "Sheriff releases video of jail incident that led to Natasha McKenna's death". The Guardian. The Associated Press. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  11. Jouvenal, Justin (8 September 2015). "Prosecutor will not pursue charges in death of mentally ill inmate in Va". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  12. Weil, Martin (28 April 2015). "Death of woman shocked by stun gun in Fairfax jail is ruled an accident". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  13. Jouvenal, Justin (14 February 2015). "Woman died violently at hands of Fairfax County deputies, lawyer says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  14. McCormack, Simon (25 April 2015). "Virginia Jail Bans Use Of Tasers After Natasha McKenna's Death". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  15. "Stun gun use banned at jail after inmate's death". WUSA9. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  16. "Sheriff Kincaid Releases Natasha McKenna Video". Fairfax County Sheriff. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  17. "Inmate: McKenna, Natasha 1054527; Incident Date: 01/27/2015" (PDF). County of Fairfax, Virginia. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  18. Woolsey, Angela (1 October 2015). "NAACP calls for change in Fairfax". Fairfax County Times. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
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