OCOEE, Fla. — State Attorney Monique Worrell confirmed Thursday that the officers who used a Taser on an Ocoee man who later died will not face criminal charges.
Jean Celestin died after Ocoee police arrived at his mother’s home for a domestic disturbance in April 2019.
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Reports show Celestin had punched both his mother and sister in the face. They said they knew it was a symptom of someone suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder who was off his medication.
Officers said the situation escalated after they arrived and an officer deployed a Taser.
Police said officers performed life saving measures on Celestin, but he still needed to be taken a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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“What happened here was wrong, the treatment of Mr. Celestin was unacceptable, and Mr. Celestin’s death was unjust,” the state attorney’s office released in a statement. “Unfortunately, based on the assessment of the prior administration, there is no legal basis to move forward with the filing of criminal charges.”
On Nov. 5 2020, the state attorney sent a letter to the Ocoee police chief stating there was not sufficient evidence to prove the officers sought to cause injury or death. Rather, they exercised the degree of force they believed necessary to detain Celestin, according to the correspondence.
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“When a family calls law enforcement for assistance with someone in mental health crisis, they do not expect that call to end in the death of their loved one, and they should not have to worry that it will,” state attorney officials said. “Since this incident, law enforcement agencies have enhanced existing Crisis Intervention Training, and partnered with Aspire Health to send Community Response Teams to mental health crises. Unfortunately, these efforts were too little, too late for Mr. Celestin.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn’t track how often Tasers are used or how often they may result in death or serious injury.
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