WASHINGTON — Natasha McKenna died in early February days after Fairfax County sheriff’s deputies tased her four times with a stun gun. The medical examiner is ruling her death an accident, and detailing how she died.
The Virginia Medical Examiners office says the electric shock played a role in McKenna’s death which was ruled excited delirium associated with physical restraint including the use of a stun gun.
McKenna, 37, died after Fairfax County Sheriff’s deputies shocked her four times with a stun gun while she was in custody. Deputies at the Fairfax County Detention Center said McKenna was resisting an officer trying to transfer her to Alexandria when she was shocked.
McKenna reportedly had her hands cuffed behind her back and was in leg shackles and a mask when she was shocked on Feb. 3. She spent five days in a coma before she was removed from life support.
Shortly after the sheriff’s department launched an investigation into McKenna’s death, WTOP spoke with Dr. Warren Levy of Virginia Heart who says a fatal reaction to a shock is rare.
“If it stimulates the heart just at the wrong moment in the cardiac cycle, it can induce a chaotic heart rhythm,” Levy says.
Given McKenna’s physical reaction to the shock, Levy had concerns over the potential medicines in her system.
“There are certain medications that can make individuals more prone to heart rhythm abnormalities after receiving an electric shock. Some of them can be some of the medications used to treat psychiatric illness,” he says.
The medical examiner found schizophrenia and bipolar disorder contributed to McKenna’s death but did not say whether she was taking medications for those conditions.
“We do need to be aware of that, and police need to be aware of that. In a crisis situation, I don’t think we can expect them to have all this information at their disposal,” Levy says.
McKenna’s death is being ruled an accident.
