Teen's death ruled natural, not from stun gun

~ Roger Holyfield's family rejected the pathologist's findings as baffling.

ST. LOUIS -- An Illinois teenager who died after police shot him at least twice with a stun gun when he reportedly turned unruly had no drugs in his system and succumbed to "natural causes," a pathologist said Wednesday.

Roger Holyfield's family rejected Dr. Phillip Burch's findings as baffling. They said the 17-year-old boy was not as combative as police claim when two officers confronted him Oct. 28 in Jerseyville, Ill., after he was found carrying a Bible and cordless telephone and yelling, "I want Jesus."

"He was a bipolar victim, and he was hyper. That's the only thing he was," said Rayburn Holyfield, a grandfather of the teenager. "He was a problem child all of his life, but he was not the problem there. He was out there holding his Bible and hollering for Jesus. He did nothing wrong."

Rayburn Holyfield said the family believes the stun gun contributed greatly to his grandson's death.

"He would probably be alive if it wasn't for the Tasers, but it was the policemen who used them," Holyfield said. "I blame the police. Tasers wouldn't have done that if police hadn't used them over and over."

Police have said Holyfield would not acknowledge the officers who tried to calm him, then became combative and was shot with a stun gun -- once after ignoring their warnings, then again when he continued struggling. Holyfield died a day later at a St. Louis hospital.

Jerseyville is a town of about 8,000 residents, roughly 50 miles from St. Louis.

Burch, St. Louis' deputy chief medical examiner, has said an autopsy on Holyfield showed no signs of trauma or foul play that might have explained why the boy died. After tests failed to detect any drugs in Holyfield, Burch concluded the teenager may have died from "excited delirium," a heart-racing condition the pathologist described as "a hyperactive nervous system that's not connected to reality."

"It just wore him out -- everything, including his heart. When his heart quit, his brain died," Burch said. "Here, we have a young, otherwise healthy young man, and all of a sudden he's in trouble, being arrested, putting up a tremendous struggle and basically dies.

"It's a shock for everyone. I feel sorry for everyone -- most noticeably the family, but for the officers involved," Burch said.

Medical examiners across the country increasingly have cited delirium resulting from drug use or psychiatric problems when suspects die in police custody. But there are no reliable national data on how many suspects die from excited delirium, and some civil rights groups question whether it exists.

Mark Niemeyer, the Holyfield family's attorney, called Burch's conclusion "very puzzling."

"The family is encouraged that at least the medical examiner's report acknowledges forcible restraint was a contributor to his death," Niemeyer said.

In a statement, the city of Jerseyville said Burch's findings exonerate the policemen who handled Holyfield, and support the conclusion of Jerseyville police in their own investigation of Holyfield's death.

While expressing "sadness and sincere condolences" to Roger Holyfield's family and friends, the city said the two officers "followed established policy and procedures regarding the use of force and the Taser in response to the actions of Roger Holyfield."

Calls on Wednesday to Jerseyville's mayor and police chief were not immediately returned. The city said it would have no further comment until Illinois State Police completed their review of Holyfield's death.

State Police still were awaiting unspecified records it subpoenaed in recent weeks from Jerseyville before turning its reports over to a prosecutor to review, State Police Master Sgt. Jim Morrisey said.

"I would hope that within a month or so we'd have resolution to this," he said.