JUST IN | The coroner's office ruled the death of a man who died in IMPD's custody was a homicide, according to the family's attorneys.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Marion County Coroner's Office has ruled that Herman Whitfield III's death while in police custody was a homicide, according to the family's attorneys.
Whitfield III was in the throes of a mental health crisis when police arrived at his northeast-side home on April 25. According to IMPD, police were called to Whitfield's home in the 3700 block of Morrison as he was suffering a mental crisis when Indianapolis Metropolitan Police department officers handcuffed and shocked him with a Taser. Whitfield died later at a hospital.
"Mr. Whitfield did not present a danger to the officers and there was no need to taser him. Moreover, the officers violated their own training by keeping Mr. Whitfield handcuffed face down after he was restrained, and after he had told them he couldn’t breathe, and when he was not moving or breathing, which led to this death," Cruz and Waples said.
Whitfield's parents and their lawyers filed a federal lawsuit last month against the City of Indianapolis and the six police officers involved, claiming police put his life at risk when they shocked and restrained him. Taylor has instructed Critical Incident Response Team investigators to finish its criminal investigation and present the case to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office by the end of Friday, according to a Wednesday update from the department.
"Based on a careful review of the facts and the Use of Force Board’s feedback, Chief Taylor will consider discipline up to a recommendation of termination to the IMPD Civilian Police Merit Board," the release states.
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