Independent autopsy finds George Floyd died of homicide by asphyxia

Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by Austin63867
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Independent autopsy finds George Floyd died of homicide by asphyxia The examination was led by a former New York City medical examiner.

An independent autopsy ordered by George Floyd's family found his death was a "homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain," according to early findings from the examination released Monday.

Floyd was apprehended by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last Monday, and one of the officers pinned his knee to Floyd's neck as Floyd called out that he couldn't breathe.

The independent examiners found that weight on Floyd's back, the handcuffs and the positioning were contributory factors because they impaired the ability of Floyd's diaphragm to function. The report concluded that Floyd, 46, died at the scene.

"The ambulance was the hearse," Ben Crump, an attorney for Floyd's family, said at a news conference announcing the findings.

Later Monday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office released its initial findings of their autopsy and also declared Floyd's death was a homicide caused by "a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)."

Dr. Michael Baden and the University of Michigan Medical School's director of autopsy and forensic services, Dr. Allecia Wilson, handled the newly announced independent examination.

Baden, who was New York's medical examiner in 1978 and 1979, had previously performed independent autopsies on Eric Garner, who was killed by a police officer in Staten Island, New York, in 2014 and Michael Brown, who was shot by officers in Ferguson, Missouri, that same year.

Baden said Floyd was in good health before his death and said the video of his death showed the compression of his neck and back very clearly.

"When he said 'I can't breathe,' unfortunately, many police are under impression that if you can talk that means you're breathing. That is not true," he said during the news conference.

Wilson said toxicology reports and other examinations are still ongoing and acknowledged that since they conducted a second autopsy, as the medical examiner had done one previously, they did not have access to Floyd's tissue samples in their original state.

"We feel those items will not change or alter the cause of death with mechanical asphyxia," she said.

The medical examiner's preliminary report, however, said Floyd had "other significant conditions," including "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, a fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use."

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, identified as the officer who put his knee to Floyd's neck, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd was heard saying "I can't breathe," while the officer had him pinned for nearly nine minutes, according to the criminal complaint.

Three other officers who were involved in the arrest have been fired but haven't been charged as of Monday afternoon.

The criminal complaint said the official examination of Floyd's body by the medical examiner is still ongoing, but prosecutors provided some information about this death. This is separate from the independent autopsy requested by Floyd's family.

The medical examiner's initial findings were that Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease, the complaint said.

TrumpIsABigFatLiar on June 1st, 2020 at 21:21 UTC »

Police Magazine literally wrote an article last year about all the factors that can kill someone by positional asphyxia including:

Behind-the-back handcuffing of someone in a stomach-down prone position Placing a knee or weight on the subject Restraint hold around the subject’s neck

The officers hit all three! Multiple officers weighing down George Floyd's back and legs with their knees, kneed pressure to the neck and handcuffs behind the back in the stomach-down position.

Edit: Oh and this from the DoJ in 1995 warns of the same thing with guidelines that state: As soon as the suspect is handcuffed, get him off his stomach.

1994and2011 on June 1st, 2020 at 19:18 UTC »

It was exceedingly unlikely that he just had a random medical issue and that Chauvin's actions weren't at the very least contributory. Smart to get a second opinion.

ohnoaguitarist on June 1st, 2020 at 19:16 UTC »

Was anyone seriously expecting anything different?