Bodycam footage reveals Raleigh police using stun guns on Daryl Tyree Williams, who warned of heart problems before death

Six Raleigh, North Carolina police officers were placed on administrative leave after a man died in their custody last month — and newly released bodycam footage shows they repeatedly used stun guns on him even as he told them he had heart problems.

Darryl Tyree Williams, 32, died in the early hours of Jan. 17 shortly after he fled an arrest for alleged drug possession.

Police on Friday released a roughly 12-minute-long video that includes dashboard camera footage, surveillance video and text describing the moments leading up to the fatal arrest.

Officers were patrolling nearby businesses when they came across a vehicle that was occupied by Williams and noticed an open container of alcohol and marijuana inside, police said.

The officers tried to arrest Williams for possession of a controlled substance after they found a folded dollar bill with white powder in his pocket.

Williams can be heard questioning why and asking “what’s going on” as he was being arrested. One body camera video shows cops telling Williams if he does not place his hands behind his back, they will fire a Taser.

After being Tased, Williams can be heard expressing concern over what the repeated use of the stun gun could do to his heart.

“I’ve got heart problems,” he pleaded with officers. “Please! Please!”

Still, the officers used a Taser for a third time, prompting Williams to cry out in pain, the video shows. About a minute later, he loses consciousness.

Police and EMS on the scene were unable to resuscitate him. He was then brought to a hospital, where he died about an hour later, according to authorities.

The cause of Williams’ death is still being investigated.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said on Friday that an autopsy has been completed, but that officials were awaiting a final report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The six officers involved in the fatal arrest have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Raleigh Police Department Internal Affairs Unit. The State Bureau of Investigation is also conducting a probe.

Police later said that they found two firearms in Williams’s vehicle, one of which had been reported as stolen. Authorities have not said Williams was armed at the time of the arrest.

Cops have said they were conducting “proactive patrols” of an area they claim has a history of issues involving drugs, weapons and other criminal violations.

Williams’ mother told The Washington Post that the officers racially profiled her son, who was black.

“That was my baby and he did not deserve to die that way,” she told the newspaper.

“He was too young. He hadn’t even really started,” his aunt, Mary Cabell, told The News & Observer. “I want some answers, and I want to know why my nephew got taken.”

The slain man’s family saw the footage released by police on Thursday, according to a city spokesperson. The family had no public comment to make regarding the footage, according to Emancipate NC, a criminal justice reform group working with the family.

The release of the video comes two weeks after police in Memphis, Tenn., released footage showing officers beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to death during a Jan. 7 traffic stop.