Nov. 11, 2006

Jersey County Law Enforcement

A tragic event, a tragic death

Saturday’s incident in which a young Jerseyville man died after being arrested, and tasered twice, by Jerseyville police is a tragedy of incredible magnitude.

Rumors, gossip and suspicion abound in the county over what did and didn’t happen.Here is what we know. Police responded after receiving a complaint about someone behaving erratically on State Street. Police tried to remove the young man, 17 year-old Roger Holyfield, who they say was clearly in an agitated state.

The encounter turned combative and TASERs were used in an attempt to subdue the young man, though police say they had no effect; he pulled the probes out himself. An ambulance was called after blood was spotted (which turned out to be from one of the police officers). Holyfield started vomiting and became unresponsive. He died the next day at a St. Louis hospital.

Rumors are flying that he was beaten to death. He was not. Rumors are flying that he was tasered to death. He was not.

The medical examiner who performed the autopsy said he saw no marks on the body, other than where the TASER probes went in, and no signs of trauma. He also said he believes the young man died as a result of excited delirium, an uncontrolled state, which is often accompanied by psychiatric problems and drug use. According to the ME, when coupled with an aggressive and combative encounter like a police confrontation, excited delirium can lead to a fatal heart arrhythmia, or heart attack. He said Holyfield’s medical records indicate that the young man suffered from psychiatric problems, though he would not elaborate and did not know if drugs, controlled or otherwise, were present.

The medical examiner also said that there was no evidence to lead him to believe that the use of a TASER contributed to his death.

Final and official results from the autopsy, which will include reports from tissue samples taken from the boy’s heart and brain and a full toxicology report, will not be available for six to eight weeks.

Whatever you think about the use of TASERS, and people have very strong opinions, it appears that the officers were well within the police department’s guidelines in employing the devices, based on the evidence they presented.

Nevertheless, neither these facts nor the evidence that seems to exonerate the use of TASERS and the behavior of the police officers in Saturday’s incident can mitigate the terrible tragedy that occurred.

Family and friends of Roger Holyfield are shocked and horrified by his tragic death and the violent events surrounding it. They should know that the entire community, including the police force, is devastated, too. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family.