FAIRFAX, Va. – As the former Fairfax County Police officer accused of murdering John Geer gets set to appear in court Wednesday morning, the investigation into another death linked to Fairfax County law enforcement has no definitive end date.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh says he is still reviewing hundreds of pages of investigative documents tied to the February death of Natasha McKenna after she was tased multiple times inside the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
The county sheriff is responsible for the detention center, where McKenna had been taken after her arrest on a charge of assaulting an Alexandria police officer. The Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team was trying to take her out of her cell prior to the use of the Taser.
“I can only say I’m working as hard as I can to pull that together and get the result out, I know how important it is to everyone: the family of Ms. McKenna and everyone involved,” Morrogh tells WTOP.
“I know the police and the sheriff are both anxious for me to either ask for more information or reach a conclusion so that they can deal with that,” he adds.
The detention center was apparently aware of McKenna’s history of mental illness, which an autopsy report cites as a contributing cause of death.
The medical examiner ruled the manner of McKenna’s death an accident, but found that her death was caused by “excited delirium associated with physical restraint including use of conductive energy device, contributing: Schizophrenia and Bi-Polar Disorder.”
Last month, Fairfax County Police detectives submitted their investigative files and analysis to Morrogh so he can decide whether any charges are warranted.
“Every case of this nature, of this magnitude, especially when there’s a death, they tend to be complex cases…there’s a lot of medical evidence,” Morrogh says.
“I got eight binders about four to five inches thick each, we’re still investigating, I’m moving as quickly as I can,” he adds.
He has not set a deadline for an announcement in the case.
“Whether there’s a criminal charge in these cases or not in these cases, they’re all tragic, somebody’s dead, and we all take it to heart and we care deeply about doing what’s right,” he says.
