The family of a man who was tasered by police before falling to his death is suing DeKalb County and the officers involved in the incident.
Troy Lee Robinson's family told Channel 2 Action News officers had no reason to use a Taser on him.
Robinson, 33, died last year after police tasered him while he was on top of a wall, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution originally reported. Robinson was the passenger in a car pulled over for a tag violation. He ran away during the traffic stop, climbed a wall and fell over as he was tasered.
Robinson was immediately handcuffed after the fall. He died from severe head and neck trauma.
The driver wasn’t arrested in the incident and Robinson had no previous arrests. Officers were not sure why Robinson ran or climbed the wall.
“The only thing that the driver and Mr. Robinson were guilty of was being African-American in South DeKalb, that’s it,” the Robinsons’ attorney, Mawuli Davis, told Channel 2. “And that’s a shame.”
But a police internal investigation disputes that the Taser prongs hit Robinson, Channel 2 reported.
The officers involved in the incident are still working, according to the news station. A civil grand jury will review the case to determine if a criminal investigation is needed.
In the meantime, the family is missing out on the precious things Robinson could provide for his family.
“What a jury can’t provide is a hug from a father,” Davis said. “What a jury can’t provide is a father showing up to a game or walking his daughter down the aisle.”
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