June 18, 2009 - "Autopsy Links Taser to Teenager's Death"
A Detroit teenager shot with a Taser by police may have died as a result of the stun gun aggravating a heart condition, a medical examiner says.
Macomb County Chief Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz said in an autopsy report the cause of death for Robert Mitchell, 16, was "indeterminate," adding the teen suffered from arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, The Detroit News said Thursday.
The examination of Mitchell's body was conducted by forensic pathologist Cheryl L. Loewe, who said there may have been a connection between police Taser use and the teen's April 10 death, the newspaper said.
"The heart condition is the immediate cause of death," Loewe said. "Certainly, we cannot ignore the time relationship when Robert was Tasered and then found unresponsive and went into arrhythmia, coupled with the fact that Taser probes were applied over the chest."
Mitchell was shot with the stun gun by police from Warren, Mich., following a foot chase prompted by a traffic stop, the newspaper said. The teen was unresponsive after being shot with the Taser and later died.
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