Austin Hunter Turner died in 2017, on a night his mother, Karen Goodwin, has replayed again and again, trying to make sense of what happened. Goodwin, of Bristol, Tenn., now believes she has spent all these years living with a lie that has tested what was once a resolute faith in the police, paramedics and the legal system. Goodwin’s son is among more than 1,000 people across the U.S. who died over a decade after police restrained them in ways that are not supposed to be fatal, according to an investigation by The Associated Press in collaboration with FRONTLINE (PBS) and the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism. Turner’s case highlights a central finding of the investigation: In the aftermath of fatal police encounters involving the use of Tasers, brute force and other tactics, a lack of accountability permeates the justice system. In Turner's case, his autopsy report explained that he died of an overdose and that officers had gone to Turner’s apartment to help the young man, but he had been too stoned to cooperate.
Goodwin knew her son smoked marijuana and he got high using Suboxone, a drug used to wean people off opioids, but didn’t think either drug could lead to an overdose. Officers Eric Keller and Kevin Frederick wore body cameras that recorded most of the interactions between police, paramedics, and Turner. When the police arrived, Goodwin believed Turner was treated as a suspect resisting arrest, not as a patient facing an emergency. Paramedics tried to force Turner onto his feet but he toppled over after a single step. Officers began screaming that Turner was resisting arrest, being combative and disobeying their commands. Video shows Keller yelled at the flailing Turner, who was pinned down in a recliner chair, “You’re going to get tased if you keep it up.” Despite paramedics warning him to wait, about 10 seconds later Keller pulled the trigger. Three experts who reviewed the case for AP said Turner did not die of a drug overdose. Instead, they said the Bristol police made critical errors that contributed to Turner’s death, including placing him facedown in a way that could restrict his breathing. “They didn’t understand the dangers of prolonged restraint and the pressure on his back,” said Jack Ryan, a police training expert and a former police officer and administrator.
Comments