Pathologist Examines Teen Killed by Stun Gun for 'Delirium'
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An Illinois teenager who died after police shot him twice with a stun gun might have been in an agitated mental state where unusual strength is possible, possibly supporting police claims of a wild tussle with the 130-pound boy, a pathologist said Wednesday.
Dr. Phillip Burch, St. Louis' deputy chief medical examiner, said an autopsy Tuesday on 17-year-old Roger Holyfield showed no overt signs of trauma or foul play that might have explained why the boy died.
Holyfield died Sunday, a day after the confrontation with police in Jerseyville, Ill.
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Burch said he's investigating the possibility that Holyfield died from "excited delirium," which he described as a mental state "where someone is out of control and can do physical feats normally considered impossible."
Such feats also could include continued struggle even after being shot with a high-voltage stun gun, he said.
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"They pick up heavy objects, can pick up a human being and throw them — things they wouldn't normally be able to do," Burch said, calling such a state in Holyfield's case "definitely a possibility."
Described as an overdose of adrenalin, the heart-racing condition affects mostly young men with histories of drug use or mental illness and what are thought to be brain abnormalities, Vincent DiMaio, a Texas medical examiner and proponent of the diagnosis, told The Associated Press recently.
Holyfield vomited at the scene and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, then flown to a St. Louis hospital where he died about 23 hours after the confrontation.
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Holyfield's family members have not returned messages this week to discuss the teenager's movements or frame of mind before the confrontation.