Man Dies After Jolt By Taser Gun
Mar 30, 2002
HILLIARD - Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine if a Taser gun used by Nassau County
deputies to subdue a man they were trying to arrest was responsible for his death.
The Duval County Medical Examiner's Office completed an autopsy Thursday on the body of Henry William
Canady, 46, but a spokeswoman said Friday the man's cause of death has not been released.
The Taser fires two projectile darts, connected to the weapon by wires. The weapon then jolts the suspects with an
electric charge, rendering them immobile but usually without any long-term harm. Deputies used one Wednesday on
Canady as they tried to arrest him on drug charges.
Following the struggle, Canady collapsed and died, Col. Tommy Seagraves of the Nassau County Sheriff's Office
said. Seagraves said prosecutors with the State Attorney's Office are investigating the death. He said he couldn't say
who used the stun gun or how many times.
Seagraves said his office will have to wait for the investigation and autopsy report before determining what caused
the Canady's death.
Canady had a criminal record stretching back to at least 1989. He served time in state prison and county jail for
offenses ranging from drug possession and sale to resisting arrest with violence. He recently had been released from
jail while awaiting trial on charges of possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
Nassau County began using Tasers about two year ago, Seagraves said. He said deputies used the guns 56 times in
2001.
Seagraves said there have been no reports of injuries with the use of Tasers in Nassau County.
"We haven't had any official complaints, where someone came in and filed a document," Seagraves said.
Calls to the home of Canady's mother in Macclenny were not immediately returned.
AP-ES-03-29-02 1627EST
The Associated Press

Autopsy Will Show How Drug Suspect's Cause
Of Death
Nassau Man Dies After Arrest
Autopsy Will Show How Drug Suspect's Cause Of Death
Updated: 12:17 p.m. EST March 28, 2002
http://cf.ibsys.com/jax/sh/videoplayer/video.cfm?id=1333519&owner=jax

HILLIARD, Fla. -- Family members of a Nassau county man killed in police custody -said they'll be waiting for an autopsy to determine what caused the death of 42-year-old
Henry Canady.
Nassau County deputies were serving a drug warrant on Canady Wednesday when they
said he ran from them. They chased him and ended up in an abandoned home where they
used a stun gun to subdue Canady.
Sheriff Ray Geiger said Canady fought back. After they finally arrested him, then they
believe he suffered a heart attack.
"(They) stood him up, they said he gasped a couple of times and back down he went,"
Sheriff Ray Geiger said.
Some family members question how Canady really died, wondering if repeated shocks from the stun gun might have
caused the heart attack.

"I said 'ya'll don't kill him.' They said he's just out, he'll come through, but he never came through," his mother,
Alma Canady, said. "I said 'ya'll done killed my young un.'"
An autopsy will be conducted in the next few days.

Investigation of police taser gun fatality
By First Coast News Staff

HILLIARD, Fl - A Nassau county family waits for the results of an autopsy. They
accuse deputies of going too far when using a taser gun. 47-year-old Henry Canady died
Wednesday night after a chase in Hilliard.
Nassau County sheriff's deputies say Henry Canady has a long history of drug arrests and
were serving him a warrant for selling drugs. They say he began to run and used the taser
gun to stop him after a chase. Candady died shortly after being shocked.
The taser gun is used by police as an alternative to fire arms. It fires two darts attached to cables and delivers a 5second 50,000 volt charge that causes a person's muscles to contract uncontrollably.
The family of Henry Canady awaits the results of the autopsy. They believe police went too
far with use of the taser gun. "I'll stand on a stack of bibles and say they killed my son.
They killed him," said Alma Canady, mother.
Nassau County sheriff Ray Geiger says his deputies did fire the taser gun several times at
Canady but only one electronic dart struck him. "Once the medical examiner comes back
with a cause of death then we'll have an inquest and then it will be determined one way or
the other," said Ray Geiger, Nassau County Sheriff.
An investigation of Henry Canady's death is underway.