Tyrone West, 44
Baltimore, Maryland
July 18, 2013
Agencies: Baltimore Police Department Maryland
Cause of death: Choking
Last updated: almost 6 years ago
Overview 
Tyrone West, 44, died after being arrested during a traffic stop on July 18, 2013. West was pulled over for backing down the street into an intersection, according to the report.
After officers asked West to get out of the car, they noticed a bulge in his sock and suspected drugs. A bag recovered at the scene turned out to contain cocaine. The officers said they chased West, and he was ultimately tackled to the ground. When West died, he was in handcuffs.
An autopsy revealed no serious injuries or signs of asphyxia, and the officers were not charged in West's death. The department's Independent Review Board said in an August 2014 report that West "died of Cardiac Arrhythmia due to Cardiac Conduction System Abnormality complicated by Dehydration during Police Restraint."
According to the medical examiner, another contributing factor may have been "the extreme environmental temperatures."
In April 2016, a new forensic review of his autopsy concluded that West died because he couldn't breathe, and not because of a heart condition as the department's independent review board concluded.
Legal Action
December 2013 Autopsy Report
December 2013 State's Attorney Statement
June 2014 Lawsuit filed
August 2014 An independent panel created to review last year's in-custody death of Tyrone West determined that Baltimore police officers did not use excessive force but made tactical errors that "potentially aggravated the situation" and did not follow basic policies.
December 2014 Nine police officers to face no charges
April 2016 Forensic review of Autopsy Report
Community and Family Efforts
November 2015 Twanda Jones weekly vigil
March 2016 Weekly marches for Tyrone West
Additional Resources:
- https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3009376/BPD-Findings-Report-FINAL.pdf added August 10, 2016 14:31
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-custody-death-20160430-story.html added May 01, 2016 12:07
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-custody-death-20160430-story.html added May 01, 2016 02:25
- http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2015/s4367710.htm added March 21, 2016 05:58
- http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/19/opinions/oppenheim-baltimore-freddie-gray-case/ added March 21, 2016 05:57
- http://peoplesworld.org/in-wake-of-ferguson-baltimore-examines-police-practices/ added March 21, 2016 05:53
- https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/10/01/weve-got-to-get-rid-of-the-bad-apples/ added March 21, 2016 05:52
- https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/baltimore-freddie-gray-unrest-protests/ added March 21, 2016 05:51
- https://storify.com/BmoreDoc/the-uprising-baltimore-s-rising-started-before-the added March 21, 2016 05:50
- http://baltimorecrime.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Tyrone%20West added March 21, 2016 05:49
- http://www.bet.com/news/national/photos/2015/04/baltimore-a-brief-history-of-recent-police-brutality-cases.html#!042715-national-baltimore-police2 added March 21, 2016 05:47
- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/us/baltimores-broken-relationship-with-police.html?_r=0 added March 21, 2016 05:46
- http://www.dcmediagroup.us/2014/06/29/baltimore-city-pd-struggles-truth-justice/ added March 21, 2016 05:44
- http://www.innocentdown.org/2013/07/18/tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:43
- http://www.stattorney.org/northeastern/463-12-19-13-statement-regarding-the-tyrone-west-investigation.html added March 21, 2016 05:39
- https://baltimoreeclipse.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/looking-back-a-year-in-the-death-of-tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:36
- http://www.abc2news.com/news/region/baltimore-city/tyrone-wests-family-empathizes-with-eric-garner-case added March 21, 2016 05:35
- http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/03/20/black-lives-matter-remembering-tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:34
- http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/962185-tyrone-west-autopsy-report.html added March 21, 2016 05:32
- https://slought.org/resources/the_shadow_of_the_state added March 21, 2016 05:30
- http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/prosecutor-no-charges-will-be-filed-in-tyrone-west-death/23570140 added March 21, 2016 05:29
- http://www.citypaper.com/blogs/the-news-hole/bcpnews-branch-asks-for-three-cases-including-tyrone-wests-to-be-reopened-20150722-story.html added March 21, 2016 05:23
- http://www.steinershow.org/tag/tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:22
- http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/before-freddie-gray-there-was-tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:21
- http://revcom.us/a/388/the-baltimore-police-murder-of-tyrone-west-and-the-hard-fought-struggle-for-justice-en.html added March 21, 2016 05:20
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dOUlQij0t4 added March 21, 2016 05:19
- http://www.themsuspokesman.com/2013/12/10/autopsy-reveals-tyrone-west-death-after-months-of-brutality-speculation/ added March 21, 2016 05:17
- http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/tag/tyrone-west/ added March 21, 2016 05:14
- http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/06/23/family-of-baltimore-man-who-died-in-custody-files-multi-million-suit-against-police/ added March 21, 2016 05:12
- http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/11/3668146/tawanda-jones-baltimore/ added March 21, 2016 05:09
- http://fusion.net/story/149188/why-did-a-black-baltimore-grandfather-die-in-police-custody/ added March 21, 2016 05:09
- https://www.facebook.com/justicefortyronewest added March 21, 2016 05:07
- http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-08-08/news/bs-md-ci-tyrone-west-outside-review-20140808_1_tyrone-west-james-chips-stewart-excessive-force added March 21, 2016 05:07
- http://www.afro.com/was-tyrone-west-death-police-brutality/ added March 21, 2016 05:04