Video shows police officers taunting a struggling 48-year-old jailed man who was gasping 'I can't breathe' before he died

• Video has been published of Tennessee police restraining a man who died after gasping, "I can't breathe."
• The officers did not face criminal charges. Now, the man's daughter is bringing a case against them.
• The case brings further scrutiny to the use of police restraints since the killing of George Floyd.

Disturbing video of a 48-year-old's last moments in police custody has been published, showing him repeatedly gasping "I can't breathe" seconds before he died.

William Jennette, who had been jailed in Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, Tennessee, died last May after an intense struggle with several officers, who yelled insults at him as they restrained him.

Jennette's death was ruled a homicide, local outlet NewsChannel 5 reported. The coroner concluded the cause of death was a cocktail of drugs and asphyxiation as a "contributory cause of death."

A grand jury decided not to bring criminal charges against the officers, the outlet reported. But Jennette's daughter Dominique has now filed a lawsuit against the county, the city, and several officers, according to NewsChannel 5.

The case comes in the wake of ongoing debates about the use of police restraints, following the police killing of George Floyd last year.

Part of the scene is shown in graphic footage obtained by the channel, in its report on its investigation into Jennette's death:

Jennette had been brought into custody two days earlier after being charged with resisting arrest, public intoxication, and indecent exposure, the channel reported.

On May 6, jail staff called for police assistance in putting Jennette into a restraint chair - jail logs say he had been "hallucinating" and "detoxing," the channel reported. He had also been in a restraint chair the day before, as he had been hitting his head against the wall, according to the outlet.

The footage documents a struggle in which officers brought him to the ground and grappled for his arms and legs in efforts to restrain him.

"Oh, it hurts," said Jennette as they cuffed him. Pinned face down on the ground by several officers and struggling, he attempted to turn onto his side.

"Stay down, you stupid son of a b----," yelled an officer. Jennette asked to be let up, and an officer called out for leg restraints.

"You little stubborn b-----d," yelled a female officer, as he was put in a "hogtie" position. Then, he said repeatedly that he couldn't breathe.

According to NewsChannel 5, a female officer responded: "You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid b------."

The audio is unclear if she said "should" or shouldn't." Marshall County's sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this point.

With officers and staff still pinned on Jennette, one officer reminded the others to take care not to obstruct Jennette's breathing.

"That's why I'm not on his lungs. Let him breathe," replied another officer. Jennette, no longer struggling, can be heard saying: "I'm good."

"No, you ain't good. You're going to lay there for a f------ minute," replied an officer.

Jennette died in the following seconds.

Dominique Jennette, the daughter who is bringing the lawsuit, told NewsChannel 5: "It just feels like my heart is constantly being ripped out of my chest, and there's no peace to that."

She says that the officers involved weren't trained properly for the situation. Seth Stoughton, associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina, told the outlet that the officers had done "the exact opposite" of what long-established police training guides advise.

"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," he said.