ATLANTA — The family of a man who died at the Fulton County Jail after being tased earlier this month is demanding answers.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says 32-year-old Antonio May started fighting with jail staff, forcing them to tase and pepper spray him. May died on the scene.
While the GBI investigates the cause of death, 11Alive’s Natisha Lance spoke exclusively to the attorney for May's family.
Attorneys for May said his children are devastated. Pictures portray 32-year old Antonio May to be a doting father. That's why the guardians for his 4-year-old, 6-year-old and 13-year-old children are searching for answers.
“He was a healthy, gainfully employed guy who just happened to get arrested for criminal trespassing and he's dead the same day,” said Michael Harper, the attorney for May’s family.
Police arrested May Sept. 11 for trespassing then booked him into the Fulton County Jail. His children never saw him alive again.
“What we see in that M.E. report is very troubling,” Harper said.
The report, from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office, given to 11Alive by the attorney for May's family, said May, who tested positive for ecstasy, was seen inside a holding cell by a deputy - naked and pleasuring himself.
But Harper contends, “There was no need for the confrontation from the beginning,” he said.
According to the report, six deputies "assembled" before May was ordered to put his hands behind his back. But he reportedly refused.
“We find it hard to believe that those six guards could not contain him without using lethal force,” Harper said.
May was tased as deputies entered the cell, and when officers attempted to restrain him "he began fighting and kicking at them, squirming and swinging on the ground…" That's when May was tased two more times on his thigh and then pepper sprayed.
Deputies eventually restrained May with handcuffs, leg irons and waist chains. After decontamination from the pepper spray, May became unresponsive and died on the scene.
When asked for a response, the Fulton County Jail said it would not comment on ongoing investigations.
May's family attorneys held a press conference Tuesday afternoon, asking Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard to suspend the deputies involved and to investigate the deputies involved for potential murder charges.
