The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is taking all of its Tasers off the streets for as many as 45 days, after a suspect died when he was shocked by an officer's X26 Taser at a Lynx light rail station.

Police say Lareko Williams, 21, was beating and choking a woman when confronted by Officer Michael Forbes at the station on Woodlawn Road around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Williams was pronounced dead about an hour later.

The death came just a day after a federal jury in Charlotte awarded $10 million to the family of 17-year-old Darryl Wayne Turner, who died in 2008 after a CMPD officer shocked him with a Taser.

In response to the jury's award against the company that makes Tasers, Charlotte City Attorney Mac McCarley said police officers would continue to use the weapons.

"It is still a very effective, nonlethal force to control a situation," he told the Observer Wednesday, just hours before the confrontation at the light rail station.

But the $10 million verdict and Wednesday's death are certain to revive debate over the weapons. Tasers can deliver a 50,000-volt shock that temporarily paralyzes suspects, and have been linked to hundreds of deaths across the country.

Earlier this year, the Union County town of Stallings stopped using Tasers because of liability issues.

CMPD on Thursday suspended use of its roughly 1,200 Tasers for 30 to 45 days as the weapons are tested to make sure they're working properly. The Taser used on Williams will be sent to an independent laboratory to be tested, police said.

The department will also review its Taser policies and procedures to ensure they're in line with established national standards.

Foxx supports chief's action

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx said Thursday that he wants to see the results of the CMPD review before taking any further action.

"I have spoken with Police Chief Rodney Monroe several times in the last 24 hours and he has assured me that all aspects of this incident will be reviewed thoroughly," Foxx said in a statement. "I also support his effort to inspect all Taser devices and protocols related to their use."

Police didn't respond to questions about Officer Forbes' training with the Taser. They also didn't respond to questions about where Williams was struck with the Taser prongs or how long he was shocked.

On Thursday, McCarley stood by his statements about Tasers being effective in helping officers control situations.

"In the vast majority of cases, fewer officers and fewer suspects sustain any sort of physical or permanent injuries," he said, speaking of Tasers. "But the other steps available are usually hard physical contact, something like a baton. And that is much more likely to cause some type of immediate or lasting physical harm."

But Ken Harris, who has represented Turner's family since the teen's death three years ago, said Williams' death may illustrate the Taser's dangers.

"This incident is just another example of why we have been so persistent in arguing that the Taser is a lethal weapon," Harris said.

"We wanted Darryl's legacy to be a reduction in the number of deaths related to the use of Tasers. This is just another tragedy."

At Woodlawn Lynx station

On Wednesday night, Williams and a female friend were riding the Lynx line home after watching a movie at the AMC movie theater on South Boulevard, said Ariel Terry, a friend of Williams who says she dated him for a year. At some point, he got into an argument with the woman, Terry said.

At 10:39 p.m., someone called police reporting that man was beating a woman at the Woodlawn Lynx station, a raised platform along the 4700 block of Old Pineville Road, according to a police statement.

Forbes was the first officer to respond.

Monroe told reporters Forbes fired his department-issued Taser as Williams was about to strike the woman again. Forbes used the Taser "in an attempt to gain compliance," according to a police statement.

Forbes soon realized the suspect was unresponsive and radioed for paramedics.

Terry said Williams treated her well when they dated. But she did acknowledge that Williams had been previously charged with assault on a female and other crimes.

She said Williams has a 1-year-old child and two children on the way. He was attending classes at Central Piedmont Community College, she said, trying to get his graduate equivalent diploma.

Monroe told reporters that investigators are analyzing video that apparently showed what happened during the confrontation.

"A host of cameras (are) in and around the area," Monroe said. "We're going through a very methodical process analyzing the data from those cameras."

Williams' family declined to comment. The Observer's news partner, WCNC-TV, reported that they had hired a lawyer.

Largest award against maker

A day before Williams died, Darryl Turner's family was awarded $10 million after a jury found that Taser International failed to warn that the weapon could cause cardiac arrest. The award was the largest ever against the makers of the Taser. The company said it will appeal.

The city of Charlotte paid $625,000 to Turner's family in 2009, though it denied wrongdoing.

Turner died in March 2008 after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Jerry Dawson Jr. shocked him at a Food Lion grocery store in northeast Charlotte.

Turner, who worked at the store, died from cardiac arrest. The autopsy showed the teenager's heart was pumping so fast and chaotically from the Taser shot and stress from the confrontation that it stopped pumping blood properly. The autopsy found no pre-existing heart problems.

Dawson was not charged with any crime. Prosecutors said the officer was justified in using the Taser during the confrontation with Turner, who was found with three small bags of marijuana in his socks after the incident. He was also "agitated" and threw something at a manager, police said.

Dawson was suspended for five days without pay and required to undergo additional training. After Turner's death, all officers were required to undergo more training with Tasers.

Police didn't respond to questions about Forbes' training Thursday, but under the department's training regimen, he would have completed the additional training at least twice. Staff researcher Marion Paynter contributed.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr.: 704-358-5046