Ben Crump: Wake DA needs to ‘do its part’ in case of man who died after being tased by police

Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump called for the Wake County district attorney to “do its part” in the case of Darryl “Tyree” Williams, a Black man who died in January after being tased by Raleigh police.

Crump spoke at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Gardens in Raleigh, alongside Williams’ family and attorneys with Emancipate NC. An autopsy report released earlier this week declared that Williams’ death was a homicide.

“He did not die from natural causes. The cause of the man’s death was homicide. What we saw in that video was clear, our eyes and ears did not deceive us,” Crump said. “Had they not tased Darryl ‘Tyree’ Williams, he would not have died, he would still be here with us.”

The autopsy report, released by the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, found that Williams, who was 32 and about 6-1 and 311 pounds, died from a sudden cardiac arrest related to “cocaine intoxication, physical exertion, conducted energy weapon use and physical restraint.”

During Friday’s press conference, Crump stood a few feet from a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and was flanked by people holding signs that read things like “END POLICE BRUTALITY NOW” and “DEFUND RPD, SHELTER THE UNHOUSED.”

“Thank God that this autopsy report validated what we saw with our eyes,” Crump said. “Now this is in the court of the (District) Attorney.”

Crump critical of ‘proactive patrols’

Crump has been emphatically critical of the “proactive policing,” or targeted patrols the one the Raleigh Police Department was conducting at the shopping center on Rock Quarry Road that led them to encounter Williams parked in his car the night of his death.

The two officers — C.D. Robinson, 25, and J.T. Thomas, 22 — who first approached Williams and also tased him were conducting “proactive patrols” of the 800 block of Rock Quarry Road, police said in an after-action report.

That location had a history of repeated 911 calls about drugs and weapons.

Crump on Friday likened the police’s “proactive patrol” to being a “code word for ‘harass Black people’” and said that similar methods led to other high-profile deaths of Black people by police, such as George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and, most recently, in the beating death of Tyre Nichols in Tennessee. Crump’s law office has been involved in all three cases.

“It was the Raleigh Police Department that incentivized (officers) to brutalize Black people,” Crump argued. “This autopsy confirms what we knew from day one.”

Lt. Jason Borneo of the Raleigh Police Department previously said that there is no “proactive patrol” policy in place, but that the police chief has prioritized “strategically placing” officers in locations with high rates of violent crimes.

‘Trauma he suffered as a Black man in America’

Attorney Dawn Blagrove of Emancipate NC has also criticized the police department’s “proactive patrols.”

Blagrove renewed her claims that people are consistently attacked by the Raleigh Police Department simply for “being Black and being from a poor neighborhood.”

“He was killed,” Blagrove said.

She argued that Williams didn’t die due to his drug use to “self-medicate with the trauma of being a Black man in America” or due to his obesity because “he lived in a neighborhood without grocery stores and access to fresh foods,” referring to food deserts.

Blagrove repeated Crump’s calls for Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman to bring charges to the six officers involved.

She also demanded that Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson fire the officers involved, calling them “murderous, lawless police officers.”

“Homicide is the death of a person at the hands of another person,” Blagrove said. “What that means is that someone has to be held responsible. We don’t want any more proactive policing, we don’t want any more Jim Crow, we don’t want any more stop and frisk.”

Blagrove also called on the Raleigh City Council to work on alternative solutions that don’t involve police for people in mental health crises.

She criticized the police’s narrative that they saw an open container in Williams’ vehicle at night through dark-tinted windows the night they attempted to arrest him.

“The blood of Darryl Tyree Williams is on the hands of everybody who is promoting this policy of proactive policing,” Crump said. “It won’t stop until you give every citizen of Raleigh the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Blagrove declined to speculate on what criminal charges should be given to the officers involved by the District Attorney, but said that she expects Freeman “to fully assess the facts.”

What happened to Darryl ‘Tyree’ Williams?

On Jan. 17, Williams was tased three times by police officers who struggled to arrest him for allegedly possessing drugs.

Williams, who was unarmed, ran away from the officers and fell to the ground. He struggled with officers, who deployed their tasers to subdue him. As officers restrained Williams, he told them he had “heart problems,” according to police footage released in February from body-worn cameras.

Williams pleaded with the officers. “I have heart problems. Please ... please. Please!” Williams was heard saying in the footage.

Williams’ medical records confirm a history of an “unspecified irregular heartbeat,” according to his autopsy report.

“That was my son and I miss him every day dearly,” Williams’ mother, Sonya, said Friday. “Now that we have this autopsy we know what we said from day one. He was murdered.”

What’s going on with the officers involved?

The case is being reviewed by the State Bureau of Investigation, and Freeman, the Wake County District Attorney. Freeman will determine whether the officers acted lawfully.

Freeman said she has not yet made a decision about charges in this case, The N&O previously reported.

Officers Robinson and Thomas as well as four other officers involved remain on paid administrative leave as the death is investigated by police and the State Bureau of Investigation, according to Borneo.

Although it was determined Williams’ cause of death was a homicide, Freeman said that doesn’t mean the case can or will be prosecuted as a criminal homicide.

Ben Crump Law issued a statement on the autopsy’s findings on Wednesday. The firm called it a “chilling confirmation” of excessive police force that his legal team and local activists have called attention to.

“Despite officers knowing of his heart condition, they deployed a taser against him numerous times, showing a shocking disregard for his life,” the statement read. “We will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of truth, justice, and accountability, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that those responsible for this senseless loss of life are held accountable and that meaningful changes are implemented to prevent a tragedy like this from occurring in the future.”