Two police officers have been indicted for the death of Herman Whitfield III in Indianapolis, Indiana. The indictment was handed down more than one year after Whitfield’s death.
A grand jury indicted patrol officers Steven Sanchez and Adam Ahmad on April 13, according to Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. Sanchez and Adam were both charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and several battery counts.
Whitfield died on April 25, 2022 while in police custody after his parents called 911 while their son was suffering from a mental health crisis. The Indianapolis Star reported that the 39-year-old pianist was hit multiple times with a stun gun and handcuffed while nude and facedown on the ground by five Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers and a recruit trainee.
Sanchez and Ahmad claimed that they tried to de-escalate for 10 minutes before Whitfield allegedly moved quickly toward one of the officers and they repeatedly used a Taser on him.
“The officer activated the Taser twice and the man continued to resist.”
Whitfield was handcuffed facedown, after which he became unresponsive. Medics performed CPR on Whitfield upon their arrival three minutes after he stopped moving but could not revive him. No officers are seen checking on Whitfield while waiting for the paramedics, and he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Video shows Whitfield trying to get away from the officers repeatedly. He also said, “Cannot breathe. I can’t breathe,” multiple times after he was tased and being handcuffed.
An autopsy found that Whitfield died from heart failure due to law enforcement restraint and ruled the death a homicide. It also listed obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as contributing factors.
His family filed a lawsuit against the city of Indianapolis and the responding officers. The lawsuit states that the officers “crushed the breath out of an unarmed,…
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