Rhode Island woman dies in police custody in Tennessee
(WJAR) — Editor's Note: Video included in this story may contain disturbing content.
A Coventry man is speaking out after his mother died in Knoxville police custody.
The body camera footage of her interaction with law enforcement was released earlier this week.
Lisa Edwards, 60, moved from Rhode Island to Tennessee on Feb. 4 to live with a friend. She was staying in a nursing home in Rhode Island after suffering from a stroke in 2019.
Her son, Tim Boylan, is still trying to wrap his head around what happened.
"I don't see how anybody could treat somebody like that," said Boylan. "If they would've listened to her and at least try to help a little bit, I think things would have turned out totally different."
Edwards died at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center on Feb. 6 after she was arrested on trespassing charges when she refused to leave the hospital the day before. An autopsy determined that Edwards died of a stroke after collapsing in the back of a police cruiser.
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Knoxville police released the bodycam footage on Feb. 23. The one hour and 16-minute video shows officers taking her into custody and struggling to move Edwards into a police van.
Boylan says his mother is paralyzed on her left side brought on by her first stroke.
"She can't walk, and she can't use her left arm," he said.
In the video, Edwards is seen repeatedly asking for help, but the officers refuse. At one point, they tell her she is faking her incapacity.
The mother of two tells officers she can't breathe, needs help sitting up and that she's going to have a stroke. She's even heard saying, "I'm going to die."
“This is all an act,” says one officer. "When you get out to jail, you'd better not pull this stunt, 'Cause they don't play around out there.'”
After 40 minutes of struggle, the officers manage to get Edwards in the back of a cruiser. Moments later, she slumps out of view of the backseat camera.
“I don't know if she's faking it or what, but she's not answering me," says one of the officers after checking on Edwards.
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She was taken to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead the next day.
Earlier this week, the Knox County District Attorney's Office announced that no charges were being filed against the officers involved. According to the DA's office, Edwards died of natural causes and law enforcement did not physically cause her death.
"When you take your oath to protect, and you show the public that you can't even do that, you shouldn't even have your position," said Boylan.
The officers involved are on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the internal investigation into their conduct, according to Knoxville Police spokesman Scott Erland.
Boylan said the family hired a local attorney to look into the case.
"I'm just hoping that, at some point, they will have to look at the whole case," he said.
WCYB contributed to this report.