TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Feb 28, 2023

The family of Lisa Edwards, a Knoxville woman who died following arrest in early February, plans to sue, possibly against the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) and the hospitals that treated Edwards. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the family is working to gather as much information as possible about what happened during her medical emergency and eventual death. Edwards was arrested Feb. 5 outside Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, where she had been treated. Hospital security staff called police when Edwards declined to move off the property after she was discharged. The family maintains that Edwards was physically disabled and unable to use her left side due to a 2019 stroke. Officers struggled to get Edwards into a police van and then into the backseat of a cruiser, where she later became unresponsive. She was taken back to the medical center where the Knox County District Attorney's office said Edwards died of a stroke the next day. The DA's office says none of the officers who handled her arrest will face criminal charges.