Family, Friends Mourn Man Fatally Shot With Police Taser

Police said Treon Johnson was beating two dogs and resisted arrest prior to being shot with a Taser.

Loved ones gathered Saturday to say their final goodbyes to Treon Johnson.

The 27-year-old died earlier this month after he was Tasered.

Police said they responded to a 911 emergency disturbance call in the area of East 7th Avenue and 24th Street and found Johnson was beating two dogs. Johnson resisted arrest and was shot with a Taser, police said.

Yet, family members said they are still struggling to understand the loss.

"Were looking for a little understanding," said Johnson's brother, Donald Harris.

Police said they had to subject to using physical force -- a Taser and pepper spray -- after the 27-year-old responded with violence. The dogs' owner told police he saw Johnson jump into his backyard and start beating a dog with a metal pipe. But Harris said that wasn't the case.

"My brother was getting off work," Harris said. "He went to go urinate and a dog bit him on the leg. He ended up in a tree, throwing mangoes at the dog."

Johnson allegedly tried to run from police after the incident. Investigators said his health declined after he was shot with the Taser. Three hospital transfers later, he was gone.

"Tree," as Johnson was known to his friends, was one of three men featured in "Dawg Fight," a documentary film directed by Billy Corben about hand-to-hand combat and backyard brawls in West Perrine. "Dada 5000," one of the fighters featured in the film, said Johnson was full of promise.

"He was a photographer, an inspired entertainer, a fighter and a friend," the fighter said.

According to medical records obtained by NBC 6, Johnson had a healthy history. The medical report also shows that he had marijuana in his system and he collapsed prior to the arrest.

Meanwhile, his friends are asking for the use of Tasers to be curbed.

"The laws definitely need to be changed on the enforcement of Tasers. To me it's just as deadly as a gun," friend Chanel Simone said.

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