Taser Autopsy: Coroner Rules 'Homicide' in Death of Andrew Torres


The Greenville County coroner's office said that the death of 39-year old Andrew Torres was a homicide. On Aug. 9, two Greenville police officers went to the home of Andrew Torres to serve him with involuntary commitment papers when police said he became combative. Officers said they eventually were forced to kill Torres with their taser guns. Torres was electrocuted with multiple taser attacks, was winded after officers subdued him and became unresponsive about 10 minutes later.
Andrew Torres died from a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of having an enlarged heart, the use of Tasers and the physical strain of tussling with police, Coroner Park Evans said. [see VIDEO]

Evans said Tuesday that the use of Tasers "certainly would have added to the stress and strain he was under that brought on the lethal event." Another factor was a physical altercation in which Torres wrestled with police as they tried to take him to the hospital for evaluation.

"One (of those things) in itself would probably not be a cause for his demise, but when the combination came together it caused his death," said Evans.
The findings have been forwarded to the State Law Enforcement Division and the solicitor's office to decide if charges will be filed against the officers, Dale Dirton, Kevin Hill and Eric Koepke. The officers involved have been on administrative leave since Torres' death.

Andrew Torres' brother, Frank, says that his sisters heard an officer tell emergency medical personnel that their brother was stunned six times.

Family members have said in a written statement that doctors struggled to find the right medicine for Andrew Torres, and that it was sometimes necessary to have him involuntarily committed.

Three officers charged his door to force it open, and one of them reached inside to "blindly" stun him with a Taser, sending Torres into a panic, family members have said.

Family members said they don't hold anything against the officers, but that using force caused the situation to escalate unnecessarily.

Frank Torres said the family wants more training for officers, citing an almost identical previous situation in which 45 minutes of negotiation helped de-escalate the confrontation.

Greenville police are getting new training on dealing with the mentally ill after the death of a man stunned by officers with Tasers. Chief Terri Wilfong told multiple media outlets Wednesday that her officers will get up to 40 hours of crisis intervention training. [SOURCE]

The BDPA Insider (Sep 19-25)

I am a longtime member of group of African American IT professionals. This is weekly ezine produced by past national BDPA president Milt Haynes. What better way to start the week than with your message from BDPA!

In this issue:
  • BDPAtoday September 14, 2010 [USA Edition]
  • Message from Northern Delaware Chapter President
  • HSCC Testimonial: Joseph Huggins, Jr. (BDPA Chicago)
  • NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing
  • Are BDPA Members Using Second Life?
  • BDPA Newsletters from Chapters Around the Country
  • Responsible Social Media for Young Men
  • The White House Briefing Room, 9/15/2010 (David Segura)
Click here for "The BDPA Insider" Archives.
  1. BDPAtoday September 14, 2010 [USA Edition] -- Hotep! This e-newsletter is produced by the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation on any day that an event is occurring around the country. BETF exists to conduct, promote and support educational programs for students of African descent and others in the information technology industry.  Click here for the full article
  2. Message from Northern Delaware Chapter President -- Where does the time go! Here we are approaching the start of another school year and another National BDPA conference has come to a close. This is the time of year that we focus on bringing the year to a close with our Annual Banquet as well as formulating a strategic plan for organizational growth. 2010 has been a very productive year thus far.   Click here for the full article.
  3. HSCC Testimonial: Joseph Huggins, Jr. (BDPA Chicago) -- Joseph Huggins Jr. graduated from high school earlier this year. He made the decision to accept a commission with the US Navy. He left on July 27th for the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island. There he will receive 10 months of extra academic and military training before being transferred to the Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.   Click here for the full article.
  4. NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing -- The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing honors young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. There are scores of young women participating in BDPA youth education programs all over the nation. My hope is that our BDPA chapter leaders will make a point of nominating their top female high school computer competition (HSCC) alumni for this award! Click here for the full article.
  5. Are BDPA Members Using Second Life? -- Philena Rush gave an outstandingpresentation on Second Life at the August 2010 program meeting hosted by BDPA Columbus chapter. Kai Dupe made a Second Life presentation at the 2007 BDPA Conference in Washington DC. Click here for the full article.
  6. BDPA Newsletters from Chapters Around the Country -- BETF-Blog Readers, would you like to see information about programs and services being offered all over BDPA nation? Check out this blog posting for some recent newsletters issued from around the country. You can find repository of prior BDPA newsletters in the files section of ourBDPA-Communications YahooGroup. You may need to subscribe to the BDPA-Communications YG before you can download the files located in that repository. Click here for the full article.
  7. Responsible Social Media for Young Men -- Last week I spoke to a group of local high school boys about how to safely and responsibly use tools like Facebook and Twitter. As you can probably guess, those tools are very popular with kids these days. The problem is, they many times use them inappropriately or recklessly. Click here for the full article.
  8. The White House Briefing Room, 9/15/2010 (David Segura) -- President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts. Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts including: David H. Segura, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Click here for the full article.
  9. 2011 National BDPA Conference Registration Now Open -- Please accept our invitation to join us in the City of the Big Shoulders by registering for the 33rd Annual National BDPA Conference, August 3-6, 2011 at the Hilton Chicago. Early bird registration for $350 now open! Click here to register for the 2011 National BDPA Conference today!
Here are some ways for you to stay connected with BDPA:
This message has been brought to you by the BDPA Social Networking Team or you can contact the BDPA Social Networking Team by email. Please share this information with your friends, co-workers, church members and other villagers so that they can get more involvement with this important organiation. The key is that we must share what we know with others so we can all grow and prosper. As the African proverb reminds us: "Small trickles of water make a flood."

New AfroSpear Member: SoultrainC

The AfroSpear is going international. Our newest member is Etta Jones. She is the owner of a number of German-language blogs, including 'SoultrainC'. SoultrainC created her blog in August 2009.

In her application for membership Etta wrote that AfroSpear exists to "...connect the community of Black heritage and to strengthen und support each other. To win the ability to work as singles and all together for the utmost acceptance and appreciation of Black people, wherever they live and wherever we are at. For me that comes together with respecting every man and woman and their beliefs - as well as their nature."

When asked how she can support the AfroSpear, Etta wrote that she "...hopes to be able to learn a lot from the community, get close to new ideas and goals and pass it on to my Black readers (and even more to the rest)!"
The AfroSpear requires all blogger-applicants to have an existing member to serve as an advocate and nominator for admission. Black Weblog Award Hall of Famer Field Negro served as the Nominating Member for 'SoultrainC'. He wrote:

"Etta and her team seem like good people, although I am not sure how long they have been blogging. This is a jazz aficionado in Germany and they send me info on the Black and Jazz music scene in that country. If they meet all the other criterias I would surely recommend them."
I encourage all villagers to use the COMMENTS ('Village Voice') link below to share some love with Etta Jones as she begins her adventures with the AfroSpear!
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