Crowd attends funeral today for teen killed by Taser

April 18, 2009
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

Detroit -- A large crowd filled Second Ebenezer Church Saturday to bid farewell to a 16-year-old boy who died after police zapped him with a Taser.

Warren police used the Taser, an electronic stun gun, April 10 while chasing Robert Mitchell, who dashed from a car in a traffic stop. Officers said Robert resisted arrest. He died shortly after he was zapped.

Robert, of Detroit, was a Detroit Kettering High School sophomore, who took medication for attention deficit disorder, his family said.

Police said Mitchell bailed out of the Dodge Stratus he was riding in on Eight Mile near Schoenherr after the stop for an expired license plate. Officers say he led them on a foot chase that ended inside an abandoned home in Detroit.

Police and family said it is unclear why the teen ran.

Mitchell is the second Michigan teen to die after being hit with a Taser in less than a month; a 15-year-old Bay City resident died March 22.

Autopsy results are pending.