Teen yelling for Jesus dies after being shot with police stun gun

JERSEYVILLE, Ill. — A teenager carrying a Bible and shouting "I want Jesus" was shot twice with a police stun gun and later died at a St. Louis hospital, authorities said.

In a statement, police in Jerseyville, about 40 miles north of St. Louis, said Roger Holyfield, 17, would not acknowledge officers who approached him in an intersection and continued yelling, "I want Jesus."

Police tried to calm the teen, but Holyfield became combative, according to the statement. Officers fired the stun gun after he ignored warnings and fired again when he continued struggling, police said.

Holyfield was flown to St. Louis' Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center after the confrontation Saturday; he died there Sunday, police said.

After a preliminary autopsy Tuesday, deputy chief medical examiner Dr. Phillip Burch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the teen might have died of "excited delirium" and "he could have dropped dead without being Tased." He said he didn't see overt signs of injury or foul play.

Excited delirium can be brought on by mental illness or drugs, Burch said. Complete results will not be available for at least six weeks, when toxicology tests are returned.

Messages left for Burch and Holyfield's family members were not returned.

It was not clear whether Holyfield was mentally ill.

Calls Tuesday to Jerseyville Police Chief Brad Blackorby were not returned. The department has been using stun guns for about five months, according to the statement.

In a report released in March, Amnesty International said it had logged at least 156 deaths across the country in the previous five years related to police stun guns.

The rise in deaths accompanies an increase in the number of U.S. law-enforcement agencies employing the devices.