The father of a man who died after DeKalb County police stunned him five times with a Taser said his son had never been violent.
“I want to say, ‘Do they think he is some type of vicious animal,’” said Jimmy Davis, father of Audrecas Davis, 29, who police say was combative to paramedics who tried help him at a DeKalb motel room. “If a bear comes into the yard and is not harming anyone, you would just let him go into the wild. Why didn’t you just let him go back in his room and call his relatives?”
The younger Davis is one of two people who have died in DeKalb this month after being stunned with a Taser — news that came as a surprise to some county commissioners.
Autopsies are pending on Davis and Sukeba Olawunmi, 39, who died Friday shortly after police used a Taser on her.
Both Taser incidents are under investigation, said William “Wiz” Miller, the county’s public safety director. He declined to comment further.
On Tuesday, three county commissioners said they learned about the two deaths from the media and were waiting for the administration to send them the reports. The commission’s public safety committee has asked Miller to report his findings to them.
“Of course I’m concerned,” said Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton, chair of the public safety committee. “I do need to find out what actually happened and if it’s a coincidence or if there is a reason to look to see if we need to change our policies and procedures.”
Davis’ family has hired an attorney and is considering a lawsuit, his father told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
Paramedics were called to Audrecas Davis’ room at the Budgetel Inn on Chamblee-Tucker Road on May 9 after motel staff found him passed out. Paramedics summoned police after Davis, who was 375 pounds, awoke during treatment and became combative, according to a police report obtained by the AJC.
During the struggle, officers used a Taser on Davis five times to get him to comply with their commands. Officers said in the report that they repeated the shocks because the weapon seemed to have little effect on Davis. After each stun, Davis continued to fight. One time, he ripped the prongs from the Taser out of his skin, the report indicated.
Police also indicated they found evidence of drug activity in the room.
Jimmy Davis said his son had a previous criminal record involving drugs, but had cleaned up his life.
“I know he was not a violent person,” Jimmy Davis said. “That’s out of character for him. I don’t know if he was hallucinating or what. He is always the one that calms the family down.”
Stephen Apolinsky, a lawyer for Davis’ family, said he is still waiting for more information, but he doesn’t understand why police were trying to handcuff him.
“Why did they use this Taser as a cattle prod to force him in an ambulance? It’s his decision to decline medical treatment,” Apolinsky said.
According to the police report, Davis was foaming at the mouth and nose and had defecated in the hotel room. He became unresponsive after the stuns with the Taser, in addition to two injections of a medication to calm him down.
Apolinsky said Davis had hypertension and may have had clogged arteries, but he is waiting on the autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Audrecas Davis was working with his grandfather on a farm in Albany to make money to help care for his two children. He was in DeKalb County visiting family for Mother’s Day, his father said.
In the other case being investigated, Olawunmi, 39, is accused of attempting to carjack several people in Clarkston, stealing a car and fighting police, police said.
Police used a Taser on Olawunmi twice after she crashed the stolen car, refused to comply with officers’ commanders and became combative, according to a police report. The woman, who was 5-foot-3 and 350 pounds, became unresponsive shortly after the second stun.
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