Texas – A Denton man recently filed a federal lawsuit claiming a Denton police officer purposefully fired a Taser projectile toward his face in 2015, leaving him blind in his left eye.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in November in the Eastern District of Texas, Melvin Earl Williams Jr specifically claims that Denton police Officers April McDonough and Keith Martin used excessive force when they contacted him during an investigation into a dispute in November 2015.
Through Dallas-based attorney Daryl Washington, Williams is suing the two officers, the city of Denton and Denton County.
“I know there are disputes between the parties on how it happened, but what we do know that’s not in dispute is that Melvin no longer has vision in his left eye,” Washington said.
The lawsuit says Williams and his girlfriend got into a heated argument at her house on Nov. 21, 2015. The woman eventually left the home and reported the incident to police, who met her back at the house so she could pick up some of her belongings, according to the document.
Williams claims the officers forced him to the ground at the home and used a Taser on him without cause. In the suit, Williams also claims his injuries weren’t properly treated at the Denton County Jail.
County Judge Mary Horn said she could not comment on pending litigation.
County records show Williams has previously been arrested on numerous charges before and after the November 2015 incident, including multiple assault and evading arrest charges.
Deputy City Attorney Jerry Drake is representing the city and the two officers. He filed an answer to the initial complaint last week on behalf of the city and Martin. He said he plans to file an answer on McDonough’s behalf this week.
Drake said it’s too early to speak on the facts outlined in the complaint, but he said there are multiple inaccuracies.
“Nobody aimed a Taser at his eyeball and pulled the trigger,” Drake said. “That’s not the way it happened at all.”