Mother claims police improperly subdued adult autistic son
November 19, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
30-year-old Hansel Cunningham III died on November 20 of last year in the group home, Rimland Services, where he lived in Des Plaines, Illinois. Cunningham bit and attacked a caretaker; three Des Plaine police are alleged to have used a “stun gun, pepper spray and a facedown hold that applied ‘dangerous and unreasonable pressure,’” to subdue him, as reported in the November 19th Chicago Tribune. Connie Cunningham as filed a lawsuit which also notes that police did not call promptly for an ambulance, and that “‘utter indifference and conscious disregard for [Cunningham's] safety” was exhibited.
The Chicago Tribune also notes that, back in August, the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force filed a report on the incident in the Cook County state attorney’s office. State officials did not make this report public.
From the article: “In February, the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Cunningham’s death a homicide. Officials said Cunningham suffocated while being held facedown and that the stun gun did not cause his death.”
Murder could not be proven here, but voluntary manslaughter could (given that the police failed to act appropriately regarding the medical care…); reckless endangerment could form part of the construction of malice.
I’ll be following this story……horrible.