Darren Faulkner died after he was Tasered by a DeSoto County Sheriff’s Deputy. Coroner Jeffrey Pounders says Faulkner died from heart failure. Faulkner also had heart disease, and an attorney hired by Faulkner’s family believes the Taser may have had a lot to do with his death.

Attorney Gene Laurenzi believes Faulkner’s death was unnecessary. Faulkner’s family hired Lorenzi to look into the possibility of filing a lawsuit. “He really was a husband and a father. There’s a person here,” said Lorenzi. “The information we have is they were hitting him, they got the cuffs on him and then he was tasered… and the problem I have with this is using the Taser once the guy’s down on the ground.”

DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion disputes that. He told us over the phone Faulkner was Tasered before he was cuffed and on the ground. According to Champion, police tried to break up a fight between Faulkner and another man. Faulkner turned on one of the deputies and was tasered after pepper spray failed to subdue him.. But according to Lorenzi, “To send 50,000 volts through somebody’s body when they’re down on the ground - not knowing if they have a heart problem - can create a serious problem. And that’s what I believe happened here.”

Champion says the deputies did what they had to do. Laurenzi says he plans to find out if that’s true, and if Faulkner’s death could have been prevented.

Coroner Pounders says Faulkner’s blood alcohol level was .06. He’s still waiting for drug reports to come back.

Source: WMCTV / Allison Martin