Fort Worth taser death ruled a homicide by Tarrant County Medical Examiner
A Fort Worth medical examiner has ruled that the death of a mentally ill man is a homicide, after the victim had been tasered twice by Fort Worth Police Officers.
The family of Michael Patrick Jacobs, Jr. called the Fort Worth Police Department for help after he started causing problems while being off his medication for bi-polar disorder. When police arrived they felt 24-year old Jacobs was combative and they stunned him with a taser gun twice, once for 49 seconds and then another 5 seconds after a one second pause. Taser guns apply a 50,000 volt shock that causes muscles to lock up by over-stimulating the nervous system.
Jacobs began having difficulties breathing while he was being handcuffed, though reportedly the police waved off a paramedic crew. When Jacobs collapsed, they called paramedics back to the scene, but did not initiate CPR. Paramedics could not revive Jacobs either at the scene or at the emergency room, and he was pronounced dead about an hour after the taser had been used on him.
An autopsy revealed that Jacobs had not ingested drugs or alcohol, and he did not show electrolyte imbalances, heart or lung disease or signs of illness that could have been a contributing factor to his death. The Tarrant County ME ruled the cause of death
"incapacitation due to application of a conducted energy device."The Fort Worth police chief said that the medical examiner's report would help them conclude their investigation, and said that all information would be shared with the Tarrant County District Attorney.
The FWPD began using tasers in 2001. They have been deployed 1,360 times, resulting in four deaths. Jacobs case is the first, however, to be ruled a homicide.
