DeKalb settles lawsuit with family claiming police Taser killed man

File photo. DeKalb police vehicles parked outside of Emory Decatur Hospital.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

File photo. DeKalb police vehicles parked outside of Emory Decatur Hospital.

The DeKalb County commission has signed off on a $100,000 payment to the estate of a man whose family said he died after police subdued him with a Taser.

Audrecas Davis’ family sued the DeKalb County Police Department and eight officers in 2011. The officers are accused of using an electrical shock device on 29-year-old Davis six times during a 2010 incident.

Davis’ family say he wasn’t resisting arrest or breaking the law at the time. According to the family, Davis had suffered a seizure or some other type of medical emergency when police were called and may have been trying to refuse treatment.

The DeKalb Police Internal Review Board cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. However, an autopsy ruled Davis’ death a homicide and said he died from cardiorespiratory arrest. Marijuana and nicotine were found in his system, and the medical examiner noted that he some chronic illnesses.

The $100,000 settlement, approved after an executive session at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, will bring the lawsuit to an end.