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The Texas Rangers have launched an investigation into Frisco police after a Black man died weeks after being tased while running away from officers, WFAA reports.
According to Frisco police, the incident unfolded on September 14 when officers responded to a report of a man attempting to use fraudulent identification to purchase a vehicle at a local dealership.
Police said the man ran away as officers tried to detain him. The officers proceeded to run after him in the parking lot and "gave verbal commands to stop and warned him he would be tased if he failed to comply," per Frisco police.
As the man continued to run away, police said an officer deployed their Taser, which caused the man to fall and hit his head on the ground
The man was put in handcuffs and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on September 29.
Along with the Texas Rangers, the Collin County District Attorney's Office is investigating the incident that led to the man's death.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump identified the victim as Genesis Hicks, who he said suffered head trauma and was in a coma during the two weeks he was in the hospital.
Crump said in a statement that Hicks was unarmed and running away from police when he was tased.
"Running away from the police should not be a death sentence, but we often see it resulting in one for Black men," the attorney said. "Review of the body camera footage showed us that Genesis never laid a hand on or threatened the Frisco police officers, but they immediately resorted to this unnecessary use of force."
"We will not let this tragedy be overlooked," Crump continued. "We will advocate for transparency, answers, and justice for the Hicks family as they mourn his preventable death."
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