A Black Alabama man who was hospitalized last week after he was punched and Tasered by police has died.
John Scott Jr., a 41-year-old Decatur resident, died Tuesday after being in a coma.
“My son John Scott is no longer with us. He fought a good fight,” Paulette Tennison-Sanders wrote on Facebook.
Scott Jr. was arrested April 15 after his mother called police because she feared he was off his medication and experiencing a mental health crisis.
Video shows Scott Jr. begin to panic as police officers try to get him into an ambulance.
He is then punched and Tasered while officers try to pin his arms behind his back while Scott screams “I’m sorry.”
The police department said he began “exhibiting signs of medical distress” about an hour after getting to the jail and was taken to the hospital.
A prayer vigil for Scott is scheduled for Thursday evening.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation in Scott Jr.’s death.
“While MCSO retains primary responsibility for the investigation, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation may be asked to provide additional support and resources as needed,” Decatur police said.
Scott’s death comes in the middle of a trial of a white officer charged with murder for fatally shooting a different Black man, Steve Perkins, in 2023.
“Here we go again. We stated that this was going to happen again, based on what happened when Steve Perkins died,” Rodney Gordon, president of the local NAACP chapter, said. “They shifted the police chief, but they got the same players still playing the game.”
With News Wire Services
