TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 15, 2025

A Knoxville man died after being held by Knox County Sheriff’s Office jailers at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility for less than a day, Knox News reports. David Batts was admitted to a local hospital on Jan. 7 with several cuts and an extremely bruised and swollen face. He died the following day. Lance Baker, a lawyer representing Batts’ family, released a statement to Knox News alleging that Batts was “tased and struck multiple times by Knox County officers” at the jail. The paper has filed multiple public records requests for video footage of Batts from both the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. “KPD officers did not use any force to detain Batts at the bus terminal. He was completely alert and appeared fine physically when he left in the ambulance,” a KPD spokesperson told Knox News in an email. A spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the agency has not been asked to investigate the death.