After an extensive report into the misuse of Tasers in jails and prisons was conducted, one woman revealed she experienced a miscarriage five days after the electrical device was used on her. 

According to a report conducted by Reuters, there have been 104 identified deaths by Taser in the prison system. The deaths represented 10 percent of fatalities, which occurred in over 1,000 uses of the Taser. Martini Smith, who was 20 years old and pregnant during her 2009 jailing, shared her harrowing experience with a Taser. 

Smith was detained and stripped at a Franklin County jail in Columbus, Ohio, after she was arrested for allegedly stabbing a boyfriend she’d accused of beating her. Once she was in custody, she disrobed and was ordered to take out all of her jewelry.

However, after being kept in handcuffs for a six hour period, Smith's hands went numb and she had difficulty removing her tongue ring. 

“Take the tongue ring out,” Deputy Shawnda Arnold told Smith as she struggled to unscrew the silver ball from the tongue ring.

“I will Tase you,” Corporal Matthew Stice said while pointing the Taser at Smith.

Smith asked for a paper towel to help the ring become less slippery, yet she was refused. 

Stice gave her one more warning before engaging his Taser, striking Smith in the chest with the electric plugs. Smith immediately collapsed against the concrete wall, slid to the floor,  and began gasping while covering her exposed breasts. 

“Why did you Tase me?” she cried. “I wasn’t harming nobody. I can’t just take it out.”

Eventually the charges against her were dropped and she sued the police force in 2011, wherein she was awarded $27,500 in a settlement. At the time, Smith did not reveal her pregnancy. 

Now, speaking with Reuters, Smith revealed she suffered a miscarriage five days after the Taser was used. 

“It stays with me like it was yesterday,” Smith said of her painful memory.

It is not clear whether the loss of her child was the result of the Taser.