Julie Wolfe and Ryan Kruger , WMAZ 8:59 AM. EST March 11, 2016
ATLANTA -- Days before he died, Chase Sherman was in his brother's wedding. Laughing, joking, loving the sea and making a living boating. Even as his family made their way through customs on the return trip from the Dominican Republic, he joked about his passport photo with the customs agent. Hours later, he was in the throes of a mental breakdown. He thought he was being kidnapped by his own parents. And then, he was dead.
"His parents did what everybody is supposed to do, you call 911, because 911 brings help. But in the case of Chase, 911 brought death," attorney L. Chris Stewart said.
Chase's parents stood beside the attorney, calling for charged to be filed against the Coweta County deputies involved in the confrontation
In November 2015, less than a month before his 33rd birthday, as they were traveling home, Chase told his mother he had taken Spice earlier, but not on the trip.
Spice, also known as K2, synthetic marijuana, and potpourri, was officially banned by the DEA as a Class I drug in 2013. Incidents of extreme agitation, psychotic episodes, hallucinations, and even heart attacks have been documented in users.
After going through customs at Hartsfield-Jackson airport, Chase's parents say he became agitated and did not want to get back on the plane to continue their trip home to Destin, Florida. Instead, the family decided to rent a car and drive. Worried about his condition, they called 911 in Atlanta. Atlanta police responded to the call, and according to the family "they were a great help." They helped calm him down, spoke with his parents about the plan to get home, and helped them to the car.
As the family was driving home and passing through Coweta County, Chase had another episode. Kevin Sherman told his wife Mary Ann to call 911. "It was a terrible scene," Kevin said. "He told the 911 operator he didn't know anybody in the car, he was being kidnapped, help him."
"They got one handcuff on, then tased him again, and got the other handcuff on," Mary Ann said. "I told them, 'Don't shoot him!' At that time, they told us to get out of the car."
"Homicide," Attorney Stewart said. "And those aren't my words, these are the official words of the death certificate." A copy of that death certificate provided to 11Alive News by the Sherman family listed the cause of death as, "sudden death during an altercation with law enforcement with several trigger pulls of an electronic control device, prone positioning on the floor of a motor vehicle and compression of the torso by the body weight if another individual."
The family says the real blow came after Chase stopped breathing. They say the EMT on scene did little to help "just 20 chest compressions, or so", and then the deputies high-fived each other in front of his parents. "Like he was a trophy they got off the street," Kevin said.
"They both told me they had to protect themselves, I mean, what were they protecting themselves from? He was already handcuffed. He was unarmed. What did they have to protect themselves from?" Mary Ann asked.
"Is this how we treat those who are having a mental breakdown? Is this how we treat those that are mentally ill?" their attorney asked.
The GBI told 11Alive's Ryan Kruger their investigation is complete and has been turned over to the Coweta County D.A. 11Alive has contacted the Coweta County Sheriff's Office for a comment, but have not yet heard back. Sheriff Mike Yeager has previously publicly stated the deputies were acting to defend themselves.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/family-at...fived/77499428