Mother of Tanisha Anderson Accuses Officials Of Cover-Up

By Phil de Olivera, WKSU

The mother of Tanisha Anderson is accusing Cuyahoga County officials of trying to cover up police officers' role in her death in 2014 by blaming it on a heart condition.  

An autopsy of the county coronor originally ruled Tanisha Anderson's death a homicide. But the attorney general's office ordered another autopsy last year after it was discovered the case file was tainted with statements by the two officers involved in the incident.  

The second autopsy found Anderson's death was the result of a cardiac event likely brought on by a common anti-psychotic medication, and not because of the way the two officers took down Anderson and restrained her.

Anderson's mother Cassandra Johnson said Anderson never had heart problems or took heart medication.  

"They just made up the decision that my daughter had heart failure. I'd like to see them prove that. Her records showed her other illnesses, but there was no mention of heart failure until now," she said.

A grand jury recently declined to indict the two officers. Grand jury decisions can't be appealed, but Anderson's family said they plan to go back to court.