Patrick Burns

How they died

Less-than-lethal force

Patrick Burns died after deputies Andrew Brashear, Michael Harth, John Osmer, Terrence Roderick and Brian Bressan tasered him 21 times and hogtied him. Deputies responded to a burglary at about 6:15 a.m. and found Burns in a ditch wearing just underwear, despite temperatures in the 30s. Burns allegedly became violent and the deputies used four different Tasers before hogtying him. Burns died at a hospital five days later. A pathologist hired by the coroner's office said Burns died from "excited delirium," but an inquest jury disagreed. A pathologist hired by Burns' family said he died from a lack of oxygen due to positional asphyxia. In September 2015, Sangamon County approved a $40,000 settlement with Burns' family.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Patrick Burns, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources