The daughter begged for medical attention before the mother was verbally abused and died
The family of a Newcastle woman who died after being Tasered said she told police during a siege that her mother was unwell and asked them to have her examined by a doctor before being bombarded with a bean bag cartridge and a stun gun.
Krista Kach died in the hospital Thursday evening after a nine-hour standoff with officers that police said was sparked by reports that she was threatening people with an ax. Police said when they arrived at the unit, a 47-year-old woman threatened them with an ax before barricading herself inside.
Krista Kach died in hospital after police bombarded her with bean bag bullets and tasered her to end a nine-hour siege.
They said they gained entry to her property at 9.45pm and “used a range of tactical means to take the woman into custody, including the use of a Taser”. However, they were unable to comment further as the situation was the subject of a critical incident investigation.
But Kach’s family has disputed the police version of events, saying she was not a dangerous person and that she was worried because she had been told earlier in the day that she was to be evicted from her home. They only found out that the police had fired their weapons when they heard it on the radio.
Kach livestreamed the incident for hours to an unknown audience. The footage shows that she vacillated between references to the sovereign citizen movement, pedophiles, treason, fraud, embezzlement, espionage and the Nuremberg Trials. She repeatedly utters the phrase “Hold the line” – a phrase that became popular after the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Greens MP Sue Higginson, who obtained the footage with the consent of Kach’s daughter, said it showed the need for systematic reform of the way police responded to vulnerable people.
A screenshot of Krista Kach from livestream recordings.
“It is difficult to comprehend the extent to which our system has failed Krista and her family,” Higginson said.
A statement from Kach’s family, the Herald has agreed not to be named due to her acute mental distress, described her as a “strong and independent woman” who had experienced psychological distress throughout her life, and reports from NSW Police, neighbors and the media were inaccurate and damaging.
