Maryland AG's office declines to reopen Tawon Boyd case a decade after his death

The Maryland Attorney General's Office has concluded its audit into the death of Tawon Boyd and declined to reopen the case. 

Boyd died on Sept. 21, 2016, two days after he went into cardiac arrest while being taken into custody by the Baltimore County Police Department. 

The state medical examiner ruled his death accidental, caused by the synthetic drug commonly known as bath salts. 

The 21-year-old's family accused the responding officers of using excessive force and was awarded a $1 million settlement in 2019. 

"This review by the Office of the Attorney General found insufficient evidence to prove criminal culpability beyond a reasonable doubt," the state attorney general's office announced Friday. 

The audit was conducted as part of the state's effort to review 41 cases of restraint-related deaths between 2003 and 2019 that independent medical examiners later determined should have been classified as homicides. 

"Upon completing its review of the available investigatory materials, the Office of the Attorney General found that there was insufficient evidence to reopen the matter of Tawon Boyd for further investigation or for criminal prosecution," the AG's office said Friday, adding it will give Boyd's family "an opportunity to review materials in the investigative file."

What happend to Tawon Boyd?

Baltimore County police responded at around 3 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2016 to a 911 call for a disturbance at a home in Middle River. 

Officers arrived to find Boyd yelling about an intruder in the house, and they described him as confused, paranoid and sweating heavily, according to the investigative file. 

Police were told that Boyd had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before he started acting "crazy."

When officers tried to talk to him, Boyd screamed and ran outside. Investigators said, at one point, he attempted to get into a locked police car, then knocked on a neighbor's door and told them to call police. 

Police ordered him to sit on the ground but said he did not comply, and officers decided he needed to be taken into custody for an emergency evaluation. 

A struggle ensued for about five minutes, during which Boyd allegedly grabbed, scratched and kicked the officers, and he was hit in the face twice. 

Boyd was eventually handcuffed, and the officers used their weight to keep him on the ground, according to investigators. His hands were held above his head, and he was cuffed at the ankles. 

About 30 minutes after police responded, medics arrived and administered Haldol, a medication used to control acute psychotic symptoms. Investigators said he was breathing, appeared to have a pulse and had calmed down.

While on the way to the hospital, Boyd went into cardiac arrest and had to be rescucitated. He was admitted to a hospital and later suffered multi-system organ failure. 

He was pronounced dead two days later, and the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autposy, ruling his death an accident. 

Baltimore County spokesperson Elise Aramacost described the situation as a "violent struggle" at the time. However, Boyd's fiancée, who was with him that night, told a different story. 

"He [was] on the ground, five other officers on top of him. And not only that, one officer got his arm around his neck, like this, punching him, punching him. And throughout the whole thing, he's like, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,'" said Deona Styron. "After the ambulance got there, he was still on the ground for 20 minutes. And when they lifted him up to put him on the stretcher, he was unconscious, dangling."

His family hired their own investigators to look into his death and sought an independent review of the medical examiner's findings.

Boyd's death ruled a homicide

The State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore County declined to pursue criminal charges in December 2016. 

More than a decade later, as part of the state audit, independent medical examiners reviewed the OCME's findings and determined Boyd's death should have been ruled a homicide. 

According to the AG's office, the OCME has not changed the manner or cause of death for Boyd or any of the other 40 cases since the audit's release in 2025. 

The AG's office also noted Friday that a "classification of the manner of the death is not a legal conclusion."

"A death is classified as a homicide when it results from a volitional act committed by another person," the announcement said. "The classification does not by itself establish criminal intent or criminal culpability, which are determinations made through the legal process."

The AG's office added it "concurs with the decision made by the Baltimore County State's Attorney Office in 2016" not to pursue criminal charges. 

Boyd's family has not yet commented publicly on the latest decision in the case.