Natasha McKenna: Police Mugshot
2-20-15 Natasha McKenna, a 37 year-old African American woman with schizophrenia, was struck multiple times in the head by a sheriff’s deputy during an altercation in the jail on January 31st.
I first reported this disturbing fact in a blog on February 10th that I wrote to alert the Washington media that McKenna had been tasered more than four times in jail causing her to experience cardiac arrest.
The Fairfax Police Department and Sheriff’s Department issued a press release yesterday about McKenna. They acknowledged in that statement that McKenna “assaulted” a deputy on January 31st.
But the statement did not provide any details of that “assault,” nor did it acknowledge that during that confrontation a deputy struck McKenna multiple times on her head, even though the deputy followed standard jail procedures and wrote an incident report that described the altercation.
Why didn’t the police and sheriff’s office release a copy of that report? Why haven’t they admitted that a deputy struck McKenna?
This was not the only omission in the joint press release.
1. The most obvious is the number of times McKenna was shot with a taser. Here is what the press stated.
“a member of the SERT deployed a conducted energy weapon (Taser) on McKenna”
That antiseptic account does not accurately portray the horror of what happened. She was struck at least four separate times with the taser while six deputies were trying to restrain her.
Why was it necessary to shock her repeatedly in a controlled environment?
2. The release rebukes “outside sources” — an apparent reference to the The Washington Post and me – for reporting that McKenna’s finger had to be amputated. Here is what the release states:
There were reports from outside sources that alluded to McKenna suffering an amputated finger. However, the investigation by detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department affirmed that McKenna had a pre-existing injury (missing the tip of her ring finger on her left hand), which was noted during the arrest booking on Monday, Jan. 26.
The press report is accurate. McKenna did have an injured finger when she was booked into the jail. An obvious question that detectives might wish to ask is why didn’t medical personnel in the jail treat that injury rather than leaving it to painfully fester to the point that it needed to be amputated on February 3rd when she was rushed to the hospital.
But there is something else that the press report didn’t disclose.
McKenna’s finger was re-injured AFTER she was booked into the jail during an altercation with deputies. Again, following jail procedures, medical personnel were summoned to her cell and a report was written.
Why was the re-injury not mentioned in the release?
3. The January 31st altercation is significant according to the press statement because deputies used it to justify calling in a SERT team — deputies dressed in padded vests wearing helmets — when it came time to transport McKenna on February 3rd. In addition to NOT revealing that a deputy had struck McKenna multiple times in the head on January 31st, the press release also omitted another fact that I reported in my earlier blog.
McKenna became such a problem that officials at the jail decided last Tuesday, February 3rd, that they would stop waiting for Alexandria to come get her and take her there themselves. That morning, a veteran deputy informed McKenna that she was going to be transferred. McKenna asked if she was going to be hurt by the deputies, an apparent reference to being slapped in the head earlier. He assured her that if she cooperated she would not be hurt.
I reported that McKenna had agreed to go peacefully until she saw the SERT team and panicked.
Why was this not addressed in the press statement?
No one is disputing that McKenna was violent. She spit, kicked, and tried to bite deputies. But let’s not forget that McKenna initially called Fairfax police to report that she had been assaulted, according to the press statement. While responding to her complaint, Fairfax police realized that a warrant for her arrest had been issued. She went with the police without resistance to the jail.
What happened between January 26th when she was booked into the jail and February 3rd when she was repeatedly tasered that turned her from cooperative to combative?
In this morning’s Washington Post (2-20), reporter Justin Jouvenal wrote:
Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. has promised a quick and thorough investigation and monthly updates to the public…I’ve been watching events around the country and locally,” Roessler said. “As a profession, we need to be more transparent.”
A good first step would be for the Fairfax Police and Sheriff’s Office to release copies of ALL incident reports that involved Natasha McKenna while she was in jail rather than putting out a statement that tells only a part of what happened to her.
Here is the official press release:
The Fairfax County Police Department, in conjunction with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, released the following details regarding the current in-custody death investigation:
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Alexandria City Police Department obtained a felony warrant against Natasha McKenna for assaulting a law enforcement officer (Code of Virginia §18.2-57). The assault occurred during an encounter they had with her on Thursday, Jan. 15. On Sunday, Jan. 25, McKenna called the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications Center reporting that she had been assaulted. The arriving Fairfax County police officer then assisted her with making the report and she agreed to be examined at a local hospital for her alleged injuries. Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division and Crime Scene Section also responded to conduct a follow-up investigation. While at the hospital with McKenna, detectives and a victim services specialist assisted with the investigative efforts. During the course of the investigative efforts, McKenna elected to no longer pursue the investigation and declined further police services. During the course of the investigation, a record check revealed McKenna had the outstanding arrest warrant for assaulting a law enforcement officer in Alexandria City. On Monday, Jan. 26, shortly after 1 a.m., McKenna was transported from the hospital to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC), where the warrant was served and she was remanded to the custody of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, as directed by a Fairfax County magistrate. The Sheriff’s Office made contact with Alexandria at approximately 7:40 a.m. to inform them that they were holding an inmate with an Alexandria City charge.
On Saturday, Jan. 31, McKenna physically assaulted a Fairfax County deputy sheriff while incarcerated at the ADC. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, pursuant to its protocols for managing combative inmates, made a decision to have the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT) remove McKenna from her cell for transport to the detention center in the City of Alexandria as related to her charge that originated in the City of Alexandria. As the SERT attempted to secure McKenna in her cell and restrain her for transport, she physically resisted the deputies and refused their commands. The SERT consisted of six deputy sheriffs, which included two supervisors.
During the struggle to restrain McKenna, a member of the SERT deployed a conducted energy weapon (Taser) on McKenna. While being restrained, deputies placed a spit net (which is designed to restrict and prevent spitting) on McKenna. A nurse from the ADC medical staff was present at that time to check on her prior to transport and cleared her for transport. Deputies attempted to put her in a medical transport chair, but McKenna continued to be combative and was moved to a restraint chair for transport to a vehicle transfer area, commonly known as a sally port. A Fairfax County deputy sheriff was assigned to record the deployment of the SERT and the video is currently retained as evidence by detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department and will not be released at this time.
Deputies escorted McKenna from the cell area to the sally port where the transport vehicle was waiting. Once at the sally port, medical personnel from the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office checked McKenna and determined she was experiencing a medical emergency. The spit net and restraints were removed and medical staff and deputies from the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office administered CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) while awaiting rescue personnel from the Fairfax City Fire Department. McKenna was then transported to the hospital by ambulance and after life support was removed, died on Sunday, Feb. 8.
There were reports from outside sources that alluded to McKenna suffering an amputated finger. However, the investigation by detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department affirmed that McKenna had a pre-existing injury (missing the tip of her ring finger on her left hand), which was noted during the arrest booking on Monday, Jan. 26.
To date, detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department have conducted an extensive number of comprehensive interviews, and the in-custody death investigation is active and on-going. When complete, detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Major Crimes Division will present their entire investigation, which will include any video and data from the conducted energy weapon, along with the findings of the Office of the Medical Examiner (still awaiting report), to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for an independent review to determine if there is any criminal liability under the Code of Virginia.
All information provided in this release is based on the ongoing investigation and may be subject to revision as the investigation continues. The Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office continue to work together to release information and complete a swift, thorough investigation. The Fairfax County Police Department will provide further updates within the next 30 days or as soon as additional information becomes available.
To read the Fairfax County Police Department’s original release on this investigation, click here
To read the statement provided by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, click here
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