RALEIGH, N.C. — The family of Darryl “Tyree” Williams, a Black man who died after being tased by Raleigh police in January, has hired renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them.
Williams, 32, was tased three times Jan. 17 by Raleigh police officers who were arresting him for alleged drug possession outside a sweepstakes parlor on Rock Quarry Road.
“Yet again, we see a life lost too soon due to excessive and unreasonable police force,” Crump said in a statement announcing his involvement in the Williams case.
“To continue to deploy a taser on someone who discloses a heart condition and begs for mercy reflects an immense amount of apathy and blatant disregard for life, as we saw in the video footage,” Crump said. “We have seen too many people lose their lives to police tasers and stun guns unnecessarily. Just because they don’t shoot bullets does not mean they are not a deadly weapon. We lift up Darryl’s family in prayer and fully intend to get them the answers and justice they deserve.”
Crump, who is originally from North Carolina and was born in Lumberton, has been involved in multiple high-profile cases involving hate crimes and police killings of Black people across the country. He represented the family of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man killed by Minneapolis police officers in 2020. He is representing the family of Tyre Nichols, who was killed in Memphis while in police custody.
In North Carolina, Crump represented the family of Andrew Brown, who was fatally shot by police in Elizabeth City in 2021, and the family of Jason Walker, who was killed by an off-duty Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy in January 2022.
The attorney’s record includes a $641 million settlement for residents of Flint, Michigan, in a case related to polluted water affecting Black residents; a $27 million settlement for the Floyd family; and $12 million for the family of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky.
Crump was not available Tuesday afternoon for an interview with The News & Observer, a spokesperson for his firm said in an email.
Williams’ death in police custody
In Raleigh, police struggled to arrest Williams after an officer found a white powder that looked like cocaine inside a folded dollar bill in his pocket, according to a police report issued after the incident.
The officers approached him around 1:55 a.m. while conducting “proactive patrols” of businesses in the 800 block of Rock Quarry Road. Proactive patrols supplement calls for service.
READ MORE: Read the full police report here
Police say Williams resisted arrest and pulled away from officers’ grasps before he was first tased.
Body camera footage released Friday by the city of Raleigh shows Williams telling officers he has heart problems during the incident.
He is tased once but gets up and runs a short distance until he stumbles. He is tased a second time when he does not comply with orders to put his hands behind his back.
“I have heart problems. Please ... please. Please!” he cries out.
“Three, two, one,” an officer says simultaneously. Williams moans and screams in pain as officers tase him a third time., after which he falls silent.
Six police officers are on administrative leave while police and the State Bureau of Investigation review the incident.
Williams is the third person since 2022 who has died after an encounter with Raleigh police, after two fatal shootings of men by officers last year.
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