Feds Investigating Death of Alexandria Woman Shocked in Custody: Report

The jailhouse ”Tasering” and death of Alexandria resident Natasha McKenna, who suffered from mental illness, is being investigated by federal authorities, according to a report Thursday by the Associated Press.

The Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into the death of McKenna, the AP reports. McKenna, 37, who reportedly suffered from schizophrenia, was a black woman from the City of Alexandria who was being held by Fairfax County for days on an arrest warrant from the City of Alexandria after allegedly assaulting a law enforcement officer on Jan. 15 in Alexandria.

McKenna died Sunday, Feb. 8, five days after she was Tasered four times with 50,000 volt shocks while handcuffed and shackled at the Fairfax County jail, while six officers tried to extract her from her cell to transport her to Alexandria.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia have launched an independent investigation of the case.

During that Jan. 15 encounter with Alexandria police, McKenna was taken to an Alexandria hospital but was eventually released, The Root reported. “Despite being aware of her mental-health issues, the Alexandria authorities put out an arrest warrant for her a few days after the incident for the alleged assault on an officer,” The Root report said.

Also see: Inmate Death Investigation Ongoing, Fairfax County

McKenna herself called police Jan. 25 in Fairfax County to report that someone had assaulted her; she ended up being arrested because of the outstanding Alexandria warrant and was transported to Fairfax on Jan. 26 at 1 a.m. She was held at the jail for eight days. Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid has said that her office contacted Alexandria three times, but Alexandria wouldn’t come pick up McKenna. Kincaid said that they did not have the authority to seek mental help for her since she was technically Alexandria’s prisoner, The Washington Post reported.

Alexandria police spokeswoman Crystal Nosal told The Post that Alexandria was “doing our own investigation on our practices on picking up inmates in other jurisdictions.”

McKenna died Sunday, Feb. 8, five days after she was Tasered four times with 50,000 volt shocks while handcuffed and shackled at the jail, while six officers tried to extract her from her cell to transport her from Fairfax County to Alexandria.

The Justice Department will determine whether McKenna’s death warrants federal civil rights charges, The Washington Post reports, and Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh, the county’s chief prosecutor, will decide whether to seek criminal charges.

Also read:

• Death of Alexandria Woman Shocked by Stun Gun in Custody Ruled ‘Accident’
• Details Released in Death Investigation of Alexandria Woman
• Jail Death: Video Under Wraps During Investigation, Police Say
• Sheriff’s Office: Alexandria Woman, ‘Tased’ in Custody, Dies Sunday

PHOTO of Natasha McKenna from Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office