Woman who collapsed in Knoxville police custody died of a stroke, DA says
The woman who collapsed last month in Knoxville Police Department custody later died of a stroke, the Knox County District Attorney General's Office said, and the officers who handled her arrest will not face charges.
Lisa Edwards, 60, died earlier this month at a local hospital after she lost consciousness in the back of a Knoxville Police Department cruiser while she was being taken to jail.
"An autopsy conducted by medical examiners with the Regional Forensic Center concluded that Lisa Edwards died of natural causes, namely 'ischemic stroke due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease' and 'that at no time did law enforcement interaction cause or contribute to Ms. Edwards’ death,'" DA spokesman Sean McDermott wrote in a news release Feb. 21.
Officers responded to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Scott Erland said, after a caller told them Edwards was outside the emergency room and refusing to leave after she had been discharged from the hospital.
Edwards was placed in the back of a police cruiser to be taken to the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility to be booked on trespassing charges. Erland said Edwards was not handcuffed and no force was used while taking her into custody.
The DA's office said in a release that Edwards, who had a previous stroke and used a wheelchair, had flown to Knoxville on Feb. 4. During the flight, she experienced abdominal pain and was taken to Blount Memorial Hospital when she landed.
After she was discharged, the DA's office said, she sought additional treatment at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. She was discharged the following morning but refused to leave the premises, so security guards called KPD to have her arrested.
Police officers told investigators that Edwards' mobility issues made it hard to get her into the usual transport wagon to take her to jail, so they used a police cruiser.
"Edwards was placed in the back seat of the cruiser and was being transported to the detention facility when the officer stopped to deal with another motorist and saw that Edwards had become unresponsive," the news release says.
She was taken back to Fort Sanders hospital and later died Feb. 6.
The DA's release said videos show she was "not beaten by the police, she was never subdued, there was no physical struggle between law enforcement and Ms. Edwards, and there was no restraint asphyxia."
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Woman who collapsed in Knoxville police cruiser died of stroke, DA says
