Erie, Pennsylvania
July 03, 2011
Agencies: Erie Police Department Pennsylvania
Cause of death: Taser
Last updated: over 3 years ago
People tracking this case: 1 -- Click here to Track this.
Barnes died after being tasered by Erie police. A lawsuit filed in May 2013 alleges that police violated Barnes’ constitutional rights and caused her death with a taser, disputing the county medical examiner’s report saying Barnes died of a drug overdose. According to the lawsuit Barnes was arrested on July 1 and taken to the Erie police station. It says that at 9:45 p.m. police tasered her multiple times and collapsed. It says Barnes was taken to a nearby hospital at 9:55 p.m. where she remained “unresponsive” and died on July 3, 2011. The police did not inform the coroner or the medical examiner that Barnes had been shocked with a taser at any point and they ruled the death as resulting solely from the drugs in Barnes’ system.
April 2013 Lawsuit filed