Brett Elder's Death Ruled Accidental

Brett Elder was a 15-year-old boy who was tasered by the Bay City police and died. The  unarmed 5'6", 140 lb teen died 3/22/09 - two days before his 16th birthday. His "death by taser" was widely criticized as unnecessary police action. His family has hired an attorney and plan to sue the police department. See more details here and here.

The autopsy was performed by the Oakland County Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Kanu Virani. The results of the autopsy have finally been released. The report indicated that the cause of Brett Elder's death was two-fold:

1. The first part is identified as Alcohol-induced Excited Delirium Syndrome


2. The second part states The application of an electromuscular disruptive device was a contributory factor.

Alcohol-induced Excited Delirium Syndrome has been ruled the cause of death in other cases involving a Taser. The "electromuscular disruptive device" is of course the Taser. Dr. Kanu Virani's report concludes that the death of Brett Elder was accidental.

The Bay County Prosecutor's office has not yet decided if criminal charges will be brought against any of the three police officers involved in the incident.

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Brett Elder - Funeral and Controversy

Brett "Dewey" Elder (born 3/24/93) died two days before his 16th birthday (3/22/09). The unarmed (5'6", 140 lb) teen died after being Tasered by one of three officers of the Bay City police department. He was buried Thursday 3/26/09. His family has hired a lawyer, Flint attorney David Nickola, with the intention of suing the police department. Michigan State police have opened their own investigation into this case. Read more about this case here: 15-Year-Old Brett Elder Tasered to Death

This is one of those times where it is difficult not to form an opinion before all the facts are presented and although I will continue to report on all sides of this story, I would like to make the following statement:

I have read a number of reports regarding this young man's death and, in all honesty, the only conclusion I can come to, is that unnecessary force was used by the police against Brett Elder, resulting in his death.

The best scenario I can come up with; is that three adult police officers felt so threatened by this 15-year-old, drunk kid that they had no other option but to use extreme measures to subdue him. I do not believe this.

Any other scenario leads to the conclusion that this was a case of police brutality and possible criminal behavior. I hope justice is served!! Brett Elder did not deserve this.

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The Funeral service for Brett Elder was held at 4 p.m. at Ambrose Funeral Home, 1200 Garfield Ave. but before the service was conducted a second autopsy was perform on the teen's body by forensic pathologist Werner Spitz at the request of the law firm representing the Elder family. The law firm claims that the autopsy results "are expected to show (Brett Elder) died from being electrocuted by Taser causing his heart to defibrillate."

The first autopsy was done by Dr. Kanu Virani but he declined to offer an opinion on the cause of death until he learns results of toxicology tests checking levels of alcohol and other drugs in the boy's body. Virani said he also will await results of a microscopic examination of the boy's tissues before determining a cause of death. That could take a few weeks.

Police in Bay City held a four-minute news conference to address the death of 15-year-old Brett Elder. During the conference, Bay City Police Chief Michael J. Cecchini addressed the media by reading a prepared written statement. Cecchini said officers acted properly and denied an allegation that officers used the Taser gun after the teen was in handcuffs.

"A Taser electronic control device was deployed for one five-second cycle to subdue Brett,” Cecchini said.“He was subsequently handcuffed without incident. Upon taking Brett into custody, officers recognized signs of a possible medical problem and immediately rendered aid and summoned medical personal to the scene.”

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One of Brett Elder's friends, 23-year-old Bethany Schuster of Flint, joined with several others to paint "The Rock" on 12th Street and Hammerberg Road in Flint this week to protest Brett's death. She had planned to celebrate her 24th birthday this weekend with her friend Brett. Instead, the Flint woman will spend it mourning his death.

Bethany Schuster and her boyfriend, Brandon Look, are still coming to grips with the boy's death. Schuster said she met Brett in Bay City about five years ago, and it had become a tradition to celebrate their birthdays together. "It's unbelievable," she said, adding that he was a good kid who was easygoing and lovable. "He was not a kid without ambition," said Look, adding that Brett had a hard life growing up. "Now he's robbed of being an adult." They painted The Rock on Tuesday with birthday wishes but also had a sharp message for the police. "Tasered to death by Bay City PD," The Rock read.

For photos of the funeral and The Rock dedicated to Brett Elder click here: Tribute to Brett "Dewey" Elder

Michael Pigott Commits Suicide

Lt. Michael W. Pigott, 46, a 21-year veteran of the NYPD committed suicide on Thursday Oct. 2, 2008 (his birthday). He leaves behind his wife, Susan, two sons and a daughter. He was the police officer who gave the order to taser Iman Morales, 35, who subsequently fell 10ft off the ledge of his apartment building and died. See the details here. and Learn more about Iman Morales here.

Following Morales' death, Pigott was stripped of his gun and badge and assigned to a job with the department's motor vehicle fleet — a huge demotion for a 21-year veteran who headed the elite team known as the Emergency Services Unit (ESU). Police Officer Nicholas Marchesona, 37, the officer who tasered Morales on orders from Pigott, was also disciplined. He was reassigned to desk duty but was not stripped of his gun and badge. The Brooklyn district attorney's office and the police department are both investigating the incident.

The episode also casts the spotlight on the NYPD's emergency services unit, a team of officers who deal with dozens of hostile scenarios every day, such as hostage situations, suicidal suspects, building collapses and hazardous materials threats.

"These guys are the best of the best, they really are," said Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "When people need help, they call the police, and when police need help, they call the ESU."

Both Pigott and Marchesona were ordered to undergo counseling. Pigott was remorseful and distraught. He apologized directly to Morales' family saying he was truly sorry for what had happened.

"I am truly sorry for what happened to Mr. Morales," Pigott had said. "I feel terrible about what happened to the man."

He would not discuss the incident, but suggested his career would never be the same.

"I've been a police officer for 21 years," Pigott said. "And I loved being with the Emergency Services Unit."

On Thursday, Oct. 2, the morning of Morales' funeral, Pigott went alone to Floyd Bennett Field, the headquarters of the police Emergency Services unit, in Brooklyn, took a 9-mm Glock from another officer's locker (having been relieved of his own weapon) and committed suicide.

Nearby was a photo of his wife and children and a note. He didn't want his family to see him get arrested, according to sources familiar with the note, and he didn't want anyone to blame Officer Nicholas Marchesano, who fired the Taser at Morales on his order.

Marchesano, who has been on desk duty since the incident, could not be reached Thursday. A police officer posted outside his Staten Island home said no one from the family wanted to talk to reporters.

Reactions to Michael Pigott's Suicide

“The lieutenant was deeply distraught and extremely remorseful over the death of Iman Morales in Brooklyn last week,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said at a City Hall news conference. “Sadly, his death just compounds the tragedy of the loss of Mr. Morales.”

"On behalf of all of the members of the New York City Police Department, I extend deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lt. Michael W. Pigott, who served with dedication for 21 years," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

"Lt. Pigott was an outstanding member of that unit who was called upon to make a split second decision which had a tragic result. Contrary to many accounts, that decision did indeed weigh very heavily on him," Thomas R. Sullivan, president of the Lieutenants' Benevolent Association, said in a prepared statement. "It's worth remembering that our police officers are not supermen but rather flesh and blood human beings who deal with life and death situations that most of us cannot even imagine on a daily basis."

"It's horrible," Morales' aunt, Ann DeJesus Negron, said after Morales' funeral at Our Lady of Pompeii Church. "This is not the justice we want. This really disturbs the whole family. This is not something we would want anyone to go through." She continued, “I’m sure he was asking for forgiveness,” she said. “And I’m sure that Iman would want us to forgive.” And, referring to the lieutenant’s family, she added, “I just wish that they find peace and healing and trust in life again.”

“Not your typical police officer,” said Jon O’Shaughnessy, a New York City fire marshal and an old friend. “That’s why he was a lieutenant. He was a very positive, upbeat guy. He could have retired last year.” The friend could say no more: His voice broke, and he began to cry.

Lt. Michael Pigott's Biography

Lt. Michael Pigott earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics from Dowling College and joined the Police Department in 1987 after failing, because of a hearing problem, to become an Air Force pilot. He did become a licensed civilian pilot, however, as well as a motor boat operator. His police work included many years as an officer and a sergeant assigned to the 73rd and 81st precincts in Brooklyn and the 103rd Precinct in Queens.

He joined the Emergency Services Unit, in 2002, whose officers face a wide range of challenges, including rescuing window-washers dangling outside towers and trying to talk people out of killing themselves. He was cited 11 times for excellent police duty and 9 other times for meritorious service.

Lt. Michael W. Pigott and Iman Morales both victims of the Taser!

Scott Nugent Charged in Taser Death

Ex-Police officer Scott Nugent, 21, caused the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes, 21, according to a grand jury, by tasering him a total of 9 times in 39 minutes. In fact the Winn Parish grand jury indicted Scott Nugent on two charges: Manslaughter and Malfeasance in office. Nugent has been fired from his job with the Winnfield police but is contesting that decision.

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Nugent, who is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 21, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the manslaughter charge. The malfeasance charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Nugent has surrendered to sheriff's deputies and was booked on the two charges. He was released from jail after posting $45,000 bond, said his lawyer Phillip Terrell. In an interview, Winn Parish coroner Randolph Williams discusses the circumstances of Baron Spikes' death.

This case has serious racial undertones since Nugent is white and Pikes was black. Pikes was also a cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena Six case. Furthermore of the 14 times a taser has been used by the Winnfield police, 12 of those times it was used against blacks. Nugent was involved in 10 of those 12 cases. For the circumstances surrounding the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes check this post.

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Latrina Thomas, the mother of Pikes' 4-year-old son has also filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit names the city of Winnfield, its mayor, the city council, the police chief, Scott Nugent and several police officers along with Taser International Inc. The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, plus fees and expenses.

"It's about justice," said Carol Powell Lexing, a lawyer for Pikes' family. "You can't bring (Pikes) back, but this can hold those responsible accountable for their actions."

Baron "Scooter" Pikes - Tasered to Death

Baron "Scooter" Pikes, 21, died horribly on Jan 17th 2008. Handcuffed in police custody and pleading for mercy he was tasered 9 times by officer Scott Nugent who is white. Pikes is Black. The incident occurred between 1:28pm and 2:07pm. The official police report of what happened in those 39 minutes is starkly refuted by eyewitnesses and physical evidence.

The Police Report:

Nugent spotted Pikes walking along the street and attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for drug possession, according to Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter. Pikes took off running, but another officer cornered him outside a nearby grocery store. Pikes resisted arrest and Nugent subdued him with a shock from a Taser.

Then on the way to the police station, Pikes fell ill and told the officers he suffered from asthma and was high on crack cocaine and PCP. The officers called for an ambulance, but Pikes later died at the hospital.

Six months later, the Winnfield police are standing by that story. Meanwhile, the Louisiana State Police are investigating the case, and no charges have been filed against Nugent or two other Winnfield police officers who assisted him in arresting Pikes, although the City Council did decide to fire Nugent from the force in May.

Contradictory Evidence:

There is plenty of contradictory evidence, including officer Nugent's own report of the incident, the autopsy results and eyewitness accounts.

An autopsy determined there were no drugs in Pikes' system and that he did not have asthma, according to Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner. After consulting about the case with Dr. Michael Baden, a nationally prominent forensic pathologist, Williams ruled last month that Pikes' death was a homicide. On the death certificate, he listed the cause of death as "cardiac arrest following nine 50,000-volt electroshock applications from a conductive electrical weapon."

Moreover, Pikes did not resist arrest, and he was handcuffed while lying on the ground, according to Nugent's police report of the incident. It was only after Pikes refused Nugent's command to stand up that the officer applied the first Taser shock in the middle of his back, Nugent wrote.

Several more Taser shocks followed quickly, Nugent stated, because Pikes kept falling down and refusing to get back up. Grocery shoppers who witnessed the incident later told Pikes' family that he had pleaded with Nugent: "Please, you all got me. Please don't Tase me again."

Williams said police records showed Nugent administered nine Taser shocks to Pikes over a 14-minute period. The last two jolts, delivered as police pulled Pikes from a patrol car at the police station, elicited no physical reaction because the suspect was unconscious, Williams said.

Only after Pikes was carried into the police station and slumped into a chair did police call for an ambulance. He was pronounced dead soon afterward at the local hospital.

"God did not just call this young man home," said Williams, who has served as parish coroner for the past 33 years. "Fourteen minutes elapsed between the first shock and the last. If somebody can tell me anything else that killed this otherwise perfectly healthy young man in 14 minutes, I'd like to know it."

"This case may be the most unnecessary death I have ever had to investigate," Williams said. "[Pikes] put up no fuss, no fighting, no physical aggression. The Taser was not used to take him into custody. He just didn't respond quickly enough to the officer's commands."

Winn Parish District Atty. Chris Nevils says he expects to present the case to a grand jury after he receives the results of the state police investigation.

Colorful History of Winnfield:

Winnfield is just 40 miles from Jena, La. the site of the racially explosive prosecution of six black teenagers charged with beating a white youth that last year triggered one of the largest American civil rights demonstrations in decades. In a bizarre twist of fate it turns out that Baron Pikes is the first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena 6 case.

Winnfield is also the birthplace of two of Louisiana's most colorful and notorious governors, Huey and Earl Long.

The police chief of Winnfield committed suicide three years ago after losing a close election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-buying. Just four months later, the district attorney killed himself after allegedly skimming $200,000 from his office budget and extorting payments from criminal defendants to make their cases go away.

The current police chief is a convicted drug offender who got a pardon from Edwin Edwards, the former Louisiana governor who is serving time in federal prison for corruption convictions.

All of that tangled history is now wrapped up in the Pikes case, because Scott Nugent, the officer who Tasered him, is the well-connected son of the former police chief who killed himself and the protégé of the current chief, who hired him onto the force.

In less than two years on Winnfield's 20-officer police force, police records show, Nugent ranked as the department's most aggressive Taser user. Among the recipients were a 15-year-old African-American runaway who was not charged with any crime and Pikes' father, currently serving a prison sentence for a drug offense, who was Tasered by Nugent last year, according to Kayshon Collins.

Joe Heard said his 15-year-old son was Tasered twice by Nugent last August, after Heard reported the youth as a runaway and asked the police to help find him.

"He snuck out of the house to be with a girl," Heard said. "I asked the police to bring him home, and they did, but in pieces--he was all scraped up and bruised. They told me the next time he runs, 'You know we're going to shoot him.' "

Officer Scott Nugent, 21, declined to be interviewed for this story. But his attorney, Phillip Terrell, said that Nugent "acted within the ambit of his training and Winnfield Police Department policies", an opinion seconded by police spokesman Lt. Charles Curry.

Taser Safety Guidelines:

The official Winnfield Police Department Taser policy appears to prohibit the weapon's use against a nonviolent suspect who has already been handcuffed:

"The Taser shall only be deployed in circumstances where it is deemed reasonably necessary to control a dangerous or violent subject," the policy states. It also requires that a suspect who has been Tasered should immediately be checked out at a hospital, which did not happen in Pikes' case.

Safety guidelines issued by Taser International Inc., the manufacturer of the device that is now used by more than 12,700 law enforcement and military agencies worldwide, warn officers to "minimize repeated, continuous, and/or simultaneous exposures."

Company officials, citing dozens of medical studies, insist Tasers are safe when used properly. But few of those studies examined the effect of multiple Taser applications over a short period of time. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a study released in June, concluded that "the medical risks of repeated or continuous [Taser] exposure are unknown."

"We want the police officer to be prosecuted for what he done," Pikes’ stepmother, Kayshon Collins. We got the death certificate from the funeral home in June, and it said the death was a homicide."

The Louisiana ACLU said that police officers should be handled just as other citizens.

"Police must be accountable for their actions just as others are, and if excessive police force caused Mr. Pikes’ death, the officers must be held accountable," Marjorie Esman, executive director, said in a prepared statement. "The Louisiana State Police are reviewing this unfortunate death and, if their review indicates that Mr. Pikes died as a result of police misconduct, we expect the District Attorney to prosecute as it would any other death that occurs in Winn Parish."

"I cannot and will not judge a case before I have all the facts," Nevils said in a statement provided to BlackAmericaWeb.com. "But I will assure you that if any persons are found to have committed a crime, they will be prosecuted without regard to who they are. On the other hand, if no crime has been committed, I’m not going to bring charges because it might be a popular thing to do."