Ben Crump calls for charges of manslaughter Darryl Williams' Raleigh police in-custody death

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Calls for justice were heard echoing through the walls of Mount Peace Baptist Church in Raleigh Thursday afternoon. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump stood with his arm around the mother of Darryl Williams from the pulpit.

"You would not think that a person would tase him again and again. That's not humanity. That's torture," said Crump.
[Ads /]
Local activists demanded police accountability and transparency as the investigations around the 32-year-old's death continue.

"To the Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson, who is a Black woman and mother, we want her to give Ms. Williams the same justice she'd want for her Black child," said Dawn Blagrove with Emancipate NC.

After the press conference, Crump and community members marched to the convenience store where Williams was last seen alive. His mother, Sonya Williams, placed flowers at the site where he took his last breath.

"That was my firstborn and only son. He shouldn't be dead. I want justice," she said.



Williams death re-ignited a conversation around the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

"My message to Congress is simply this," said Crump. " How many videos do we have to show you before you say we have a pattern and practice of excessive force against people of color?"
[Ads /]
Crump came to Raleigh to call for six officers to be charged with manslaughter in Darryl Williams death.

Williams, 32, died during an arrest on Jan. 17 in a parking lot near Supreme Sweepstakes on Rock Quarry Road.
Raleigh Police Department said its officers were patrolling the area and came across Williams' car. They suspected drugs were inside the car but Williams ran off when they tried to investigate.

WATCH: Raleigh Police release body cam video of night Darryl Williams died in custody

[Ads /]
Officers chased after him, using their stun guns on him multiple times, even poking the stun guns directly into Williams' body.

Williams then went unconscious and neither officers or EMS could revive him. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The six officers involved remain on administrative leave.

'I have heart problems.' Man was tased multiple times before death, RPD says he resisted arrest