Baltimore-Area Man Dies After Violent Police Confrontation

Tawon Boyd, 21, died on Wednesday following days of hospitalization.

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Tawan Boyd, a 21-year-old man from Essex, Maryland, died on Wednesday night from injuries sustained during a violent incident with police over the weekend.

CBS Baltimore reports that Boyd and his fiance Deona Styron were arguing early Sunday morning, and police arrived in response. The police report reveals that Boyd was angry and paranoid when the police arrived, saying that he was being "secretly recorded" by Styron. She told police that Boyd had been drinking and smoking marijuana. 

At that point, Boyd ran around, banging on neighbors' doors and trying to get inside nearby police cars. The police decided they needed to take Boyd to the hospital for an emergency evaluation, and it is at this point that the stories of the officers start to differ from that of Styron and Boyd's family members who were on the scene.

The police report and police department spokespeople say that Boyd was continually attacking officers, and "continued to push, kick and flail." The report says that even while Boyd was pinned down, he was continuing to try and break free of his restraints. 

Styron remembers the scene very differently. 

"He [was] on the ground, 5 other officers on top of him, and not only that, one police officer got his arm around his neck like this, punching him, punching, him and throughout the whole thing he’s like I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe," she told the local news. "He said he couldn’t breathe, and not only that, after the ambulance got there, he was still on the ground for 20 minutes, and when they lifted him up to put him on the stretcher he was unconscious, dangling."

The Baltimore County Police and Fire Departments are both conducting investigations into Boyd's case. None of the officers involved were wearing body cameras.

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