A 21-year-old Black man, who is now physically disabled after being tased by police last summer, said he is working against the odds and hopes to walk again.
In November, Jaylin Hughes of McDonough, Georgia, spoke with WSB-TV Channel 2 in Atlanta for the first time about his harrowing experience.
On June 12, 2019, Hughes, then a high school basketball player, was approached by police after they received a call complaining about a group of young men smoking weed in a car at an apartment complex.
According to WSB-TV, court filings detail that a responding officer drew his firearm and walked in the direction of Hughes and the vehicle. The 21-year-old fled from the car upon seeing the officers and was tased by police as he attempted to scale a 5 ½ foot fence, Hughes’ attorney Muwuli Davis said. The stun gun blow incapacitated Hughes, causing him to fall from the fence head-first onto the ground.
“It’s just unthinkable that someone would try to justify the use of this kind of force knowing that it’s against every policy, every procedure and could lead to the condition that Jaylin’s in,” Davis said.
In an earlier WSB-TV report, Jaylin’s mother, Tanya Hughes said her son suffered numerous neck fractures and a severe injury to his spinal cord, leaving him physically impaired from the shoulders down.
“I got tased,” Jaylin asked on the body cam footage.
“You got tased,” an officer replied.
“I can’t feel my body. I got tased. I’m paralyzed, Sir,” Jaylin said.
Officers at the scene acknowledged that the severity of Jaylin’s injury looked bad.
“He’s probably paralyzed. I think he’s paralyzed,” an officer on the body camera video said.
Police would charge Jaylin with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and obstruction of justice for his involvement in the incident that left him paralyzed.
“He attempted to climb the fence and was unsuccessful. The officer gave verbal notice that he was going to deploy his Taser and then deployed Taser," Maj. Kyle Helgerson said. “Mr. Hughes was able to get on the fence after the Taser was deployed. The officer then turned his Taser off and there was only a one-second Taser deployment.”
Helgerson added that the officer went toward Jaylin to get him off the fence, but was “unsuccessful.”
Davis also recanted the incident in a press conference over the summer.
"He heard a pop. Unbeknownst to him he had been tased and as a result, he fell on his neck, breaking his neck," the attorney said.
MCDONOUGH, Ga
20yo Jaylin Hughes was smoking weed with friends in a car. Police ran up on the car, he got scared and ran away. While jumping a fence, he was tased by police, fell back and broke his neck. He is now a quadriplegic..all for smoking weed.pic.twitter.com/AOofz3qCJj— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) June 4, 2020
After criticism from the Hughes family about the details of the encounter, an investigation was launched but former Lt. Douglas Miller, who was named in the federal lawsuit, left the department two months into the procedure.
“We’ve seen it time and time again where officers resign and go somewhere else and then what’s left behind are the people they’ve hurt or harmed and the families who’ve been devastated by their actions,” Davis said.
Retired Atlanta Police Detective Orrick Curry, who taught Taser tactics at the police academy, told WSB-TV that the police’s use of force was “excessive” and “unjustified.”
“If a person is on an elevated state, being they’re on an elevation, then you should not use that Taser on that subject at that time or at any time because they could fall down,” Curry said.
According to WSB-TV, the station’s requests for copies of the internal affairs investigation and body camera footage have been denied by the city due to the ongoing lawsuit.
While the Hughes family seeks closure with the police, they said they would want nothing more than to see the 21-year-old live his life like he used to.
“The perfect justice would just for him to be able to move,” Tanya said.
She said doctors who treat traumatic spinal cord injuries have expressed to her that the first two years is when the patient has the optimal likelihood of making significant progress. But there is still much work ahead for the former basketball player to do in physical recovery and rehabilitation.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to offset Jaylin's rising medical bills. The family has also had to remodel their home to accommodate his wheelchair accessibility needs. The Georgia man said he is grateful for all those who are able to support him and his family at this time.
“I appreciate everyone who has been following my story and got my back and I love all of you for that. Just to get back on my feet, that’s the only justice I want,” he said.
