Family told son had died of drug overdose but they believe police footage shows something far more sinister
Warning: This article contains graphic images and discussion of violence which some readers may find distressing.
A Tennessee mom who's son passed away from 'drug toxicity' has filed a federal lawsuit against authorities after seeing bodycam footage she believes contradicts initial reports.
In August 2017, 23-year-old Austin Hunter Turner suddenly collapsed in his apartment in Tennessee.
His girlfriend called his mom, Karen Goodwin, reporting him 'not moving' or 'breathing', who urged her to call 911 before rushing over to the flat herself.
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Austin had a history of seizures and when Goodwin arrived at the apartment, she found her son lying on the floor, gasping for breath and foaming at the mouth, AP News reports.
Paramedics arrived and Goodwin informed them of her son's previous seizures, before police officers and firefighters then arrived too.
When police officers and firefighters attended the scene, they believed Arthur was resisting and so restrained him. Goodwin recalled being blocked from view of her son and hearing officials shouting at him to stop resisting. "Get up off the floor!" and "You're going to get tasered if you keep it up."
Austin was pinned facedown before being carried away, strapped onto a stretcher.
Austin sadly passed away and it was ruled by a medical examiner at the time that he died of 'multiple drug toxicity' with 'recreational drug abuse' stated as his cause of death.
Austin parents knew he smoked marijuana and got high using Suboxone - a medicine to treat dependence on opioid drugs. The report stated there was a 'therapeutic to lethal level' of the latter in his system and a condition called 'dilated cardiomyopathy' - where the heart unable to pump blood around the body effectively - was a contributing factor too.
For years, Goodwin believed this to be the case, however, a new investigation led by AP News in collaboration FRONTLINE (PBS) and the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism uncovered police bodycam footage from the night of the incident.
Two Associated Press reporters came to Goodwin with the uncovered footage.
The footage allegedly shows Austin being treated as a suspect by police opposed to a patient needing urgent medical care.
Austin can reportedly be seen being handcuffed face down on the recliner and his legs shackled before ending up strapped to a stretcher, once again, face down.
AP News reports Austin was also 'shocked' with a taser by one officer.
A paramedic can also be heard saying: "You’re not going to win this battle."
Goodwin reacted: "Win what? This isn’t a contest. My son isn’t resisting. He’s dying!"
The recording also revealed once inside the ambulance, officials spent six minutes talking about the incident before realizing Austin wasn't breathing and beginning CPR.
One of the medics then asked an officer: "Y'all ain't recording are you?" The recording then allegedly goes blank.
At the time, one officer said paramedics told police Austin had been reaching for a knife on the kitchen counter which is why they had to restrain him.
Goodwin claims she saw a paramedic clear the surface before police arrived and has slammed this as 'a damn lie'.
The police report accused Austin of fighting with medics by the time police arrived, however, the camera footage shows otherwise.
AP News hired three experts to review Austin's case records. They said Bristol police's pinning Austin face down contributed to his death and resolved he didn't die of a drug overdose.
The footage has contradicted the initial cause of death report in Austin's family's minds so much so last month, Goodwin filed a federal lawsuit alleging the city and several police officers and firefighters involved used 'inhumane acts of violence' against Austin, violated his civil rights and covered up their actions.
Director of Vanderbilt University Law School’s Criminal Justice Program, Christopher Slobogin, told AP News it's up to a judge whether the lawsuit will proceed.
UNILAD has contacted Bristol police and fire department for comment.
Poppy Bilderbeck