New court filings in the case against the former Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of George Floyd show that there were doubts about what caused him to expire, according to a medical examiner.
The report from the Hennepin County medical examiner released on Tuesday details the results of the toxicology tests on Floyd, and states that Floyd had “a fatal level of fentanyl” in his system.
The medical examiner reiterated, however, that there were a multitude of causes contributing to Floyd’s death.
But he did make it clear that had there been no other factors contributing to the situation, the level of fentanyl in Floyd’s system would have been a cause of death on its own.
“[Dr. Andrew Baker] said that if Mr. Floyd had been found dead in his home (or anywhere else) and there were no other contributing factors he would conclude that it was an overdose death,” the June 1 filing said, according to KMSP-TV.
The new memoranda reflected discussions Baker had with the county attorney’s office.
One memo said Baker concluded, “The autopsy revealed no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation,” but Baker told the attorney his investigation was incomplete pending a toxicology report.
A previously released report from the same medical examiner’s office found that Floyd had also recently used methamphetamine before his death.
Updated report from Hennepin ME: Cause of Death for George Floyd is heart attack from subdural restraint and neck compression. Significant conditions include heart disease, fentanyl intoxication, and recent meth use. pic.twitter.com/m30Ofox6S0
— Tom Lyden (@LydenFOX9) June 1, 2020
The medical examiner concluded that the cause of death was “a heart attack from subdural restraint and neck compression,” but added that significant conditions included “fentanyl intoxication” and “recent methamphetamine use,” in addition to “Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease.”
An independent autopsy of Floyd ordered by his family, however, found that he died from “asphyxiation from sustained pressure,” and it reported evidence of “neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.”
