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Affirmative Action Bank VP Chokes On Cocaine And Dies In Seattle Airport
"She was completely noncompliant," Johnson said of the struggle. "Wild is the way she behaved."
Just getting back to her jungle origins.
Over and over, a Seattle bank executive's tragic choking death at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last fall was recounted at an inquest hearing yesterday in Kent.
But as each witness told a different ve
sion of the story, it became clear that a jury will hear little consensus on key details:
Was 52-year-old Desseria B. Whitmore trying to run when she was grabbed by Port of Seattle police? Or was sh
e sitting quietly when an officer suddenly forced her to the ground and pinned her? Was she crying out in pain under the officer's
weight, or was she fighting wildly? Was she threatened with a Taser? Was she handcuffed in the final moments of her life, or were her arms freed when it became apparent that she wasn't able to breathe?
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office began the inquest this week so that a jury can help determine the facts of the case, which prosecutors will use to determine whether officers on the scene acted appropriately. The inquest is expected to continue through Friday.
What so far has remained consistent is that Whitmore, an assistant vice president at Bank of America and a youth volunteer, died behind a security checkpoint after a struggle around 9
:30 a.m. Oct. 25. A medical examiner later determined that she died after choking on a small package of cocaine.
Whitmore and a friend had been on their way to Spokane to deal with Whitmore&
#39;
s late father's estate when a screener found a pipe and a small amount of marijuana in her luggage. She was asked to sit and wait for Port of Sea
ttle police.
Robin Harris, an Alaska Airlines employee, testified she saw Whitmore gagging on something, which she then appeared to spit into her hand. It was later determined to be a plastic package of cocaine, about the size of a half-dollar.
The first witness to testify yesterday, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisor Derrick Harris, described Whitmore as "calm, sitting in the chair, waiting for the process to be over" when a police officer started asking her what was in her hand. When she failed to reply, the officer "pulled her out of the chair" and took her to the floor, Harris testified.
"Did
she get up?" from the chair, prompting the officer's tackle, asked Jim Frush, a lawyer for Whitmore's family. "Was she uncooperative?" "Did she attempt to flee?&
quot; No
, no and no, Harris replied.
But another TSA employee on the scene saw it differently. As the officer questioned Whitmore, she turned and tried to run, TSA worker Roderick Johnson testified. Only then d
id the officer grab her and pull her to the ground, Johnson said.
"She was completely noncompliant," Johnson said of the struggle. "Wild is the way she behaved."
Other TSA employees testified that Whitmore, while on the floor, managed to get the baggie of cocaine into her mouth and appeared to swallow it. Doctors later determined that it had lodged in her windpipe, blocking her air supply.
Whitmore was then pulled back into the chair, where she soon slumped over, unable to breathe, as officers repeatedly told her to spit out the baggie.
Testimony differed ab
out whether officers waited for paramedics before removing her handcuffs. What was clear, though, was that medics were unable to clear the blockage.
Passengers continued to b
e screened t
hrough the checkpoint as Whitmore died on the airport floor.
Affirmative Action Bank VP Chokes On Cocaine And Dies In Seattle Airport
"She was completely noncompliant," Johnson said of the struggle. "Wild is the way she behaved."
Just getting back to her jungle origins.
Over and over, a Seattle bank executive's tragic choking death at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last fall was recounted at an inquest hearing yesterday in Kent.
But as each witness told a different ve
sion of the story, it became clear that a jury will hear little consensus on key details:
Was 52-year-old Desseria B. Whitmore trying to run when she was grabbed by Port of Seattle police? Or was sh
e sitting quietly when an officer suddenly forced her to the ground and pinned her? Was she crying out in pain under the officer's
weight, or was she fighting wildly? Was she threatened with a Taser? Was she handcuffed in the final moments of her life, or were her arms freed when it became apparent that she wasn't able to breathe?
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office began the inquest this week so that a jury can help determine the facts of the case, which prosecutors will use to determine whether officers on the scene acted appropriately. The inquest is expected to continue through Friday.
What so far has remained consistent is that Whitmore, an assistant vice president at Bank of America and a youth volunteer, died behind a security checkpoint after a struggle around 9
:30 a.m. Oct. 25. A medical examiner later determined that she died after choking on a small package of cocaine.
Whitmore and a friend had been on their way to Spokane to deal with Whitmore&
#39;
s late father's estate when a screener found a pipe and a small amount of marijuana in her luggage. She was asked to sit and wait for Port of Sea
ttle police.
Robin Harris, an Alaska Airlines employee, testified she saw Whitmore gagging on something, which she then appeared to spit into her hand. It was later determined to be a plastic package of cocaine, about the size of a half-dollar.
The first witness to testify yesterday, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) supervisor Derrick Harris, described Whitmore as "calm, sitting in the chair, waiting for the process to be over" when a police officer started asking her what was in her hand. When she failed to reply, the officer "pulled her out of the chair" and took her to the floor, Harris testified.
"Did
she get up?" from the chair, prompting the officer's tackle, asked Jim Frush, a lawyer for Whitmore's family. "Was she uncooperative?" "Did she attempt to flee?&
quot; No
, no and no, Harris replied.
But another TSA employee on the scene saw it differently. As the officer questioned Whitmore, she turned and tried to run, TSA worker Roderick Johnson testified. Only then d
id the officer grab her and pull her to the ground, Johnson said.
"She was completely noncompliant," Johnson said of the struggle. "Wild is the way she behaved."
Other TSA employees testified that Whitmore, while on the floor, managed to get the baggie of cocaine into her mouth and appeared to swallow it. Doctors later determined that it had lodged in her windpipe, blocking her air supply.
Whitmore was then pulled back into the chair, where she soon slumped over, unable to breathe, as officers repeatedly told her to spit out the baggie.
Testimony differed ab
out whether officers waited for paramedics before removing her handcuffs. What was clear, though, was that medics were unable to clear the blockage.
Passengers continued to b
e screened t
hrough the checkpoint as Whitmore died on the airport floor.
