$15 Million Lawsuit Filed in Death of Alexandria Woman in Fairfax County Jail

The family of an Alexandria woman who died after a struggle with Fairfax County Sheriff's deputies has filed a $15.3 million lawsuit against Fairfax County, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Natasha McKenna, 37, had a long history of mental illness and after being picked up on a warrant sat in a Fairfax County jail for days; McKenna was transferred to the Fairfax County jail, where over the next eight days Alexandria police failed to pick her up on three occasions because of a delay in communications, the Washington Post reported.

Defendants in the lawsuit are Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and the deputies who attempted to remove McKenna from her cell in February 2015.

When officers tried to extract her to transport her to Alexandria, a Taser was used several times because she was not cooperative, police said.

Fairfax County released a video of the incident.

• Sheriff’s Office Video
• Sheriff’s Office Incident Reports
• Commonwealth’s Attorney Report

In the video, the Sheriff expresses her condolences to the family and that there is an ongoing internal affairs investigation into jail procedures. She said that the jail is undergoing procedures to help prisoners who are mentally ill.

The Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney last fall declined to press charges in the death of the mentally ill mom.

Attorney Harvey Volzer, who is representing McKenna’s mother, Christine Wilson, said in a statement to The Washington Post that the criminal investigation shows that “black persons in Fairfax County must look to the civil courts for justice.”

“Natasha McKenna is a tragic example of how minority and handicapped persons’ rights only get lip service in Fairfax County,” Volzer wrote.

PHOTO of Natasha McKenna