Wife questions HPD account of Taser event after man dies

A Houston man stunned by a police Taser last weekend during a confrontation at a pharmacy died three days later, though the cause of death is not yet clear.

Roderick Ronall Taylor, 42, was shocked with a Taser on Saturday after fighting with two police officers and grabbing for one officer’s duty belt, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department.

He died Tuesday at a local hospital.

His wife, Charneeda Dabney Taylor, questioned the official explanation of the incident and said she would wait for the medical examiner’s full autopsy report.

She said her husband of 14 years was a devoted father who was “not aggressive, not the person they’re making him out to be.”

“He had a good heart,” she said. “He would give you whatever he had . ... He was a wonderful father to his two children.”

Dabney Taylor said the family has not finalized funeral arrangements.

Stun guns such as Tasers provide police officers with a less lethal alternative to handguns, supporters say, but reports continue to surface of people who are injured by the devices. Tasers deliver a powerful but generally nonlethal shock.

Welfare check gone awry

The incident Saturday began about 6:40 p.m. when police responded to a welfare check at a CVS pharmacy in the 4400 block of West Fuqua in southwest Houston. Taylor was being treated by Houston paramedics, who then released him, according to a police account.

“Taylor then became incoherent, uncooperative and walked into the drugstore and stated he needed to call police,” according to the account by homicide Detective L. Bailey.

Once inside, Taylor jumped across the counter of the pharmacy department, then jumped back again and tried to flee. When the officer tried to stop him, Taylor began to fight with the officer and tried to grab the belt, according to the statement.

Taylor also fought with a second officer who arrived, prompting the first officer to use a Taser. Taylor became unresponsive and was taken to the Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital. One of the officers was treated at the scene for a cut to the eye and scrape on the arm.

Several days passed before police learned that Taylor was in critical condition on life support, according to the release.

Taylor’s wife said she did not know what had happened until the hospital called her on Sunday. She said Saturday was their daughter’s birthday.

She said she learned about the Taser use when Houston Police detectives came to speak with her at the hospital.

“I was by his bedside and I was thinking it was because his kidneys and liver weren’t functioning,” she said. “I never knew he got Tased.”

She said her husband enjoyed spending time with their children — a 12-yearold daughter and a 22-yearold son. He liked to spend time with them at the park.

‘In-custody death’

Taylor’s death after being struck by the Taser is not the first in the Houston area.

Herman Rochan Barnes, 31, died after he was stunned 32 times by three Harris County deputies who entered his home in October 2006.

Jamaal Ray Valentine, 27, died in 2009 when his heart stopped in an ambulance after he was shocked during a confrontation with a La Marque police officer.

The police news release said Houston Police Department homicide detectives and Internal Affairs officials are investigating Taylor’s death, because “when an individual dies in the presence of an HPD officer, the incident is considered an in-custody death.”