May 25, 2007 EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterWhat's This

Tenn. officers accused of excessive force in use of Taser

By J.J. Stambaugh
Knoxville News-Sentinel
Copyright 2007 Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
All Rights Reserved

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The mother of a 39-year-old man who died after a struggle with police at an East Knoxville intersection this week accused the officers Thursday of using excessive force.

A Knoxville Police Department spokesman, however, said the officers used "great restraint" Tuesday night while trying to subdue Kevin DeWayne Hill, who died a few minutes after he was shocked three times by a Taser.

"I think they killed my son," said Hill's mother, Brenda Hill of Knoxville. "They could have subdued him without Tasing him three times. They let him lie on the ground and die like a dog."

According to KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk, Hill was behaving erratically near the Magnolia Avenue and Cherry Street intersection, darting into traffic and asking motorists for rides to a restaurant.

Prior to his struggle with police, Hill tried to carjack a woman, DeBusk said. "He asked for a ride, she said 'no,' he forcibly tried to get into the vehicle and even grabbed the driver through the window. That is an attempted carjacking," he said.

DeBusk said it appears that Hill, who was unarmed, died from a medical problem that wasn't related to the shocks and also had an undisclosed "illegal substance" in his system when he died.

"The officers showed great restraint in trying to take this person into custody," he said.

Brenda Hill, however, said that her son had never robbed anyone, although he had a history of using and selling drugs. She said he had severe asthma and had no prescription inhaler when he was released from prison last weekend.

"I think my son was having an asthma attack and was trying to summon help," she said. "I'd told him to go to the health department and get an inhaler. ... Why would a young man who's carjacking have no weapon and then stand in the middle of Magnolia Avenue acting erratic?"

She also said her son's ability to run from the law had earned him the nickname of "Rat."

"Had he done something wrong, he would have run away, and they couldn't have caught him," she said. "If he was doing something wrong, all they would have seen was his dust."

She said she plans on filing complaints with KPD and the Police Advisory and Review Committee. She also said she plans to hire an attorney. 

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