(update) DA: Woman who collapsed in Knoxville police custody died of a stroke
The woman who collapsed last month in Knoxville Police Department custody later died of a stroke, the Knox County District Attorney General's Office said, and the officers who handled her arrest will not face charges.
Lisa Edwards, 60, died earlier this month at a local hospital after she lost consciousness in the back of a Knoxville Police Department cruiser while she was being taken to jail.
"An autopsy conducted by medical examiners with the Regional Forensic Center concluded that Lisa Edwards died of natural causes, namely 'ischemic stroke due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease' and 'that at no time did law enforcement interaction cause or contribute to Ms. Edwards’ death,'" DA spokesman Sean McDermott wrote in a news release Feb. 21.
Officers responded to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Scott Erland said, after a caller told them Edwards was outside the emergency room and refusing to leave after she had been discharged from the hospital.
Edwards was placed in the back of a police cruiser to be taken to the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility to be booked on trespassing charges. Erland said Edwards was not handcuffed and no force was used while taking her into custody.
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2023/02/21/woman-who-collapsed-in-knoxville-police-cruiser-died-of-stroke-da-says/69928641007/
As I said when I published this story originally, I'm pretty sure she knew something was wrong, which was why she wouldn't leave. Stroke victims often have a sense that something is wrong, even if they don't know what. The cops get off on this one, but the dr. and the hospital could be in for a lawsuit.
= new reply since forum marked as read
