Medical Examiner: Woman Who Died In Taser Incident Was On Cocaine

Wednesday, July 4th 2007, 3:18 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Authorities say a woman who died after Oklahoma City police shocked her with a taser while she was handcuffed had enough cocaine in her system that the drug could have been listed as the cause of death.

But the attorney for the family of Milisha Thompson disputed those findings and says they plan to exhume Thompson's body within the next month to perform another autopsy.

Attorney Mike Gassaway says if the city doesn't respond to a $1.5 million tort claim filed May 23rd, a lawsuit in the case is likely.

The state Medical Examiner's office says Thompson died of "excited delirium," a situation in which a person's heart becomes overtaxed from the effects of drugs combined with a high level of stress. Her death was ruled accidental.