Scotland Neck (NC) Police Officer Faces Manslaughter Charge in Taser Death of Unarmed Black Man, Unlawfully Stopped & Assaulted

From [HERE] and [HERE] Scotland Neck (NC) police officer has been indicted in connection to the November death of Roger Anthony. A grand jury in Halifax County indicted John Turner, 26, on the charge of involuntary manslaughter, in the Nov. 21 death of Roger Anthony, 61, who died after Turner shot him with a stun gun. Turner is free on bond and is due in court Aug. 6. Turner resigned from the Scotland Neck Police Department after Anthony’s death.

CBS Affiliate WRAL reports officers had responded to a 911 call about a man who had fallen off his bicycle in the parking lot of a bank. The caller told dispatchers that the man appeared drunk and may have hurt himself.

When Police Officer John Turner arrived, he saw Roger Anthony pedaling along 10th Street and followed in his patrol car. Turner put on his sirens and lights and yelled for him to stop, but Anthony continued to ride away, police said. Anthony was not under arrest and not suspected of committing a crime so apparently there was no lawful basis for police to stop him. 

Scotland Neck Police Chief Joe Williams said Turner saw Anthony take something out his pocket and put it into his mouth. Turner got out of the car and yelled for Anthony to stop. When Anthony didn't, the officer used a stun gun on him, causing him to fall off of his bike. Anthony was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was declared brain dead, his sister Gladys Freeman said. She said her brother had trouble hearing.

According to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office, Anthony died from head trauma suffered when he fell from his bicycle and hit his head on the pavement.

Anthony had a history of seizures, according to the autopsy report, and had endured a craniotomy in the past, which is a surgical procedure where part of the skull is removed to allow surgical access to the brain.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation looked into the case at the request of the Scotland Neck Police Department, and after a lengthy investigation, the Halifax County District Attorney’s office obtained an indictment June 25.

Scotland Neck Mayor Leonard Bunting and Police Chief Joe Williams declined to comment on the case when reached this morning. Previously Bunting said that he wouldn't blame the family for filing a civil suit. "There has been no information that this man was a threat to anybody," he said. "If I was a family member, I'm sure I'd be thinking the same way." [MORE] 

District Attorney Melissa Pelfrey did not immediately respond to a request to comment this morning.

She emailed The Daily Herald last week she had no comment on the Anthony case.