JERSEYVILLE, Ill. – A teenager carrying a Bible and shouting “I want Jesus” was shot twice with a police stun gun and later died at a St. Louis hospital, authorities said.
In a statement, police in Jerseyville, about 40 miles north of St. Louis, said 17-year-old Roger Holyfield would not acknowledge officers who approached him in an intersection and he continued yelling, “I want Jesus.”
Police tried to calm the teen, but Holyfield became combative, according to the statement. Officers fired the stun gun at him after he ignored their warnings, then fired again when he continued struggling, police said.
Holyfield was flown to St. Louis’ Cardinal Glennon Hospital after the confrontation Saturday; he died there Sunday, police said.
After a preliminary autopsy Tuesday, deputy chief medical examiner Dr. Phillip Burch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the boy might have died of “excited delirium” and that “he could have dropped dead without being Tased.”
Excited delirium can be brought on by mental illness or drugs, Burch said.
The statement obtained Tuesday expressed sympathy to Holyfield’s family but said city and police officials would not discuss the matter further.
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