Cincinnati patient dies after stun gun shot

Kelly Brinson, 45, Cincinnati, Ohio

January 26, 2010
By Eileen Kelley, Cincinnati.com

A 45-year-old man who was in the psychiatric ward of University Hospital has died apparently after being shocked with a Taser stun gun, his family said Tuesday.

Family members of Kelly Brinson said he never regained consciousness after being shocked at least three times on Jan. 20.

Brinson was pronounced dead on Saturday.

Brenda Brinson said her brother went to the hospital on Jan. 18 and was admitted to the psychiatric ward early in the morning on Jan. 19.

Kelly Brinson was a paranoid schizophrenic, his sister said.

“He went in there for help,” she said.

Eugene Ferrara, Director of Public Safety and Police Chief for the University of Cincinnati Police Department said Tuesday that Kelly Brinson was shot with a Taser once in the hip.

A Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses an electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

He said the officer Mark Zacharias, who Tased Brinson, has been placed on administrative leave until the coroner’s report on the death is released.

Brenda Brinson said she was told that her brother had become agitated and lunged at either a security guard or a University of Cincinnati Police officer.

She said that she was told that five other officers were called to the psychiatric ward and that her brother was shocked at least twice in the chest and once in the hip.

Zacharias tried to deploy his Taser three times, but computer results show that the unit only deployed one, Ferrara said.

The marks on Kelly Brinson's chest may have been a result of medical action taken after the incident to resuscitate him, Ferrara said.