Taser Autopsy: Death of 17-Year Old William Owens Ruled a 'Homicide'

A 17-year old African American child died after being electrocuted mulitple times by the taser gun of an unidentified white Homewood (AL) police officer. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office ruled that the taser was part of the reason that the young man died.

Chief Deputy Coroner Pat Curry classified the cause of death as "sequelae of confrontation of Taser use." The manner of death is classified as a homicide. [SOURCE]

The pre-existing condition, combined with the stress of the events including the 50,000 volts of electricity from the taser gun, all worked together to end in his death. Absent one link in the chain events, whether that be the struggle with police, the taser gun or the heart condition, Owens may or may not have died, Curry said

"The totality of the circumstance killed him," Curry said.

Owens died June 14. He was struck by a Homewood police officer's Taser after lawmen caught him and three of his cousins, including a 12-year-old, allegedly breaking into cars at Herzing University just before 1 a.m. Police said Owens was struck with the taser after the teen repeatedly resisted arrest. [NOTE: I'm fairly certain that there is no death penalty for 'repeatedly resisting arrest'.]

The case is under investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the Homewood Police and the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

District Attorney Brandon Falls said he wanted to withhold comment until completion of the investigation.

The Homewood Police Department released this statement:

"The findings from the coroner's office are consistent with any death where the actions of one person cause the death of another. This ruling is consistent whether the actions of the remaining person(s) are direct or indirect. This finding does not reflect any misconduct on the part of Homewood officers responding to the scene. Officers on the scene acted reasonably and quickly to the circumstances surrounding this incident."

The next step in this process is to see what the District Attorney does. Not all homicides lead to criminal prosecution. Will the unidentifed police officer be charged with a crime? Or will this young man's life end without any legal recourse against the person that electrocuted him without a trial?

Taser Death: William Owens (Homewood, AL)

Teenagers that break into cars should be arrested. They should be tried and sent to jail for their crimes. Teenagers that break into cars should not be electrocuted by their arresting officers. Someone forgot to give the memo to an unidentified Homewood (AL) police officer. This officer pumped 50,000 volts of electricity from his taser gun into the body of 17-year old William Owens when he tried to flee. [SOURCE]

"After a continued struggle the officer handcuffed the suspect who for unknown reasons became unconscious and collapsed. Homewood fire and rescue transported the suspect to UAB where he never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead," said Homewood Police Lieutenant Ken Atkinson.

William's cousin Erica Owens says she lost her grandmother the day before William passed away and now she wants answers about his untimely death.

"We want to know what happened to him. We really don't know what happened to him. We just know that he got tased and now he's dead and the police won't tell us nothing," said Erica Owens.

Herzing University President Donald Lewis says the campus was closed at the time, but people sometimes use their parking lot after hours. Lewis says it is not a high crime area and describes the event as highly unusual.

Homewood police confirm that an officer has been placed on paid administrative leave as the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson County Coroner's Office investigate the incident and the cause of death.

"It would be both premature and unreasonable for this department to answer or attempt to answer any questions, respond to any comments, or speculation in order to allow this investigation to be completed. To do otherwise would pose a substantial possibility of confusing or delaying independent and objective analysis of this incident and would be grossly unfair to all parties involved," said Lt. Ken Atkinson.

Of course, the police were not above trying to cover their asses. Several hours after they killed William Owens, police arrived at Owens' home to tell his mother he was dead. Before doing so, the family said police officers asked whether Owens had any health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.

"She told them he had just left the doctor and nothing was wrong with him," Erica Owens said.

A lawyer for the family is calling for a grand jury investigation into the death.

"The Homewood police killed this kid. They Tased him to death," said attorney Byron Perkins. "There's no reason in the world that this 17-year-old kid should be dead."

Please let us know if you have any additional details about this taser-related death.