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Natasha McKenna, 37, already restrained by handcuffs, leg shackles (and reportedly with a mask on), while in her jail cell on February 3 was tasered four times times by police. She was pronounced dead five days at a nearby hospital. On April 28, an autopsy declared her death was a result of “excited delirium associated with physical restraint including use of conductive energy device, contributing: Schizophrenia and Bi-Polar Disorder.”

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McKenna’s arrest, and now death, have been extremely controversial from day one.

Per WUSA9, the police were called on McKenna in late January because she was acting erratically in public. When six officers reportedly arrived, she allegedly “punched one officer in the face, tried to bite an officer [and] wrestled with some officers on ground.” At some point during the altercation, it was revealed McKenna suffered from schizophrenia. According to Craig Fifer, on behalf of Alexandria, Virginia police, “the focus was [on] getting her to the hospital [in order to receive treatment].”

With intentions of eventually transmitting her to Alexandria jails to receive medical assistance, McKenna was held at Fairfax County. But she began to experience intense episodes with her schizophrenia due to a lack of medicine or treatment. While at Fairfax, her condition was “deteriorating.

Then reportedly on February 3, McKenna was physically having difficulty obeying the orders of deputies, “in an effort to…put [her] in a restraining chair”, police resorted to using a 50,000-volt taser on her four times.

After she died, it took four months for a Virginian medical examiner to deliver an autospy report. Per the Washington Post, after the diagnosis that McKenna’s schizophrenia was aggravated by tasers, the examiner shockingly ruled the  incident as an “accident.

Following the extremely unfortunate circumstance, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office made the delayed decision to suspend the use of tasers. Andrea Ceisler, told the Virginia press:

“When an unusual event occurs, it is standard practice to review specific policy and procedures in reference to that event. Due to the recent incident, we are focused on the Taser policy and, as you are now aware, have temporarily suspended the use of this device in the ADC pending completion of our review.”

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Natasha McKenna Was Shockingly Tasered In Jail, Her Death Now Ruled “An Accident”  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com