Nov 21, 2007 8:58 am US/Eastern
Family Seeks Suspension Of Taser Use After Death
FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ) ―
A call for action in Frederick after a young man was tased to death by police. Family members and community leaders held a vigil as investigators release new information about the deadly sequence of events.
Kathryn Brown has the latest on the case.
Eyewitness News has learned that 20-year-old Jarrell Gray was tased two times within 23 seconds. The information comes out as his family and friends demand law enforcement stop using Tasers.
The exact spot where Gray lost his life is now the site of a makeshift memorial, set up by friends and family so no one forgets how he died.
"If they would have slapped him, he still would have come home to me. He would have come through that door," said Gray's grandmother, Anna "Laurencine" Thomas.
Gray was hit with a Taser by a Frederick County Sheriff's deputy when officers tried to break up a fist fight. He was pronounced dead hours later.
Sheriff Chuck Jenkins says his deputies are trained to use Tasers only when they feel threatened. He admits as of now, the deputy involved has not been interviewed or questioned about the incident, but investigators confirm the deputy fired two shocks exactly 23 seconds apart.
"He was in the dark, 5 in the morning. He came up on a fight, three people involved. Apparently he felt he needed to use this level of force to control the situation," said Sheriff Chuck Jenkins.
Gray is the sixth Marylander to die from a Taser this year and the second person in Frederick County to be tased in five weeks. Family members say he was deaf in one ear and may not have heard the officer's commands.
The NAACP and some religious leaders are now calling on police nationwide to stop using Tasers until more studies can be done.
"These officers are not using it as a deadly weapon. They're taking it lightly and because of that, we are calling for the suspension of the use of Tasers," said Guy Djoken, president of the Frederick County NAACP.
For now, Gray's family vows to use his death to spark change.
"That's the only thing I can say. When you tase somebody, you just don't know," Thomas said.
Approximately 7,000 police officers nationwide currently carry Tasers.
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