The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office released a new document with a suggested cause of death. An autopsy found George Floyd died of asphyxiation, but Dr. Andrew Baker, the Chief Hennepin County Medical Examiner who reviewed George Floyd’s blood test, says the substances found could lead him to conclude it was an overdose death. An autopsy performed by Dr. Baker can be found on this link.
He had a fatal level of fentanyl in his system.
THE STORY
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office found in March that there were “no physical findings to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
In one memorandum filed May 26 after a virtual meeting with Baker, the Attorney’s Office said Baker concluded, “The autopsy revealed no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation.” Baker told the attorney his investigation was incomplete pending a toxicology report, however.
The other memorandum filed June 1 by the Attorney’s Office indicated Baker said Floyd’s level of fentanyl was “pretty high,” and a potentially “fatal level.”
“[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 memo said.
All that matters is what is in the blood, Dr. Baker said.
Floyd was foaming at the mouth and acting strangely before the police even came.
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