Talia Sharia Barnes

Less-than-lethal force

Talia Barnes died after being tasered by Erie police. A lawsuit filed in May 2013 alleged that police violated Barnes' constitutional rights and caused her death with a Taser, disputing the county medical examiner's report saying Barnes died of a drug overdose. According to the lawsuit, Barnes was arrested on July 1 and taken to the Erie police station. It says that at 9:45 p.m. police tasered her multiple times, and she collapsed. It says Barnes was taken to a nearby hospital at 9:55 p.m. where she remained "unresponsive" and died on July 3, 2011. The police did not inform the coroner or the medical examiner that Barnes had been shocked with a Taser at any point, and they ruled the death as resulting solely from the drugs in Barnes' system. Police said Barnes had not been tasered.