How Did Freddie McKee Die? A Grieving Black Mom Investigates Two Conflicting Autopsies
As The Root previously reported, around 2:45 a.m. on July 8, 2020, a neighbor called authorities to report a shirtless man in her trash who said he was looking for his phone. Around 6 a.m, police received another call but from Freddie Gardner, McKee's father, reporting that his son was dead on his front porch.
Now, Freddie's mother, Doressia McKee, is suing the Columbia Police Department for racial discrimination after she says they didn't fully investigate her son's manner of death. Instead, she says they wrote him off as just another statistic: a drug addict.
Here's what we know.
University of Missouri Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Stacy's handwritten autopsy notes cite several abrasions (a superficial rub or wearing off of the skin), contusions (ruptured bruises), and scars on Freddie's back and the back of his legs.
McKee believes, based on the reports, that there was a struggle preceding her son's death and that McKee's body was moved or in motion before the police arrived. The Root reviewed both an EMS and police report that confirms his arm was raised off the ground when authorities arrived on the scene. A paramedic wrote they attempted to move the arm but confirmed Freddie's body was in rigor mortis.
A July 26, 2020, toxicology report shows Freddie's blood tested positive for caffeine, olanzapine (used to treat psychotic disorders) and Celexa/Lexapro (used to treat depression). His mother tells The Root she received a call from Detective Steve Wilmoth in August 2020 claiming he was given the name of another drug found in her son's system and alleged Freddie, a business owner and Black history buff, died of an overdose.
'My son ain't never been no addict. Please, if I knew about any of that, I would be sitting at the rehabilitation [center] with my son making sure he would overcome whatever kind of issue,' Ms. McKee told The Root. Freddie's medical records show no evidence of drug abuse.
McKee described Freddie as kind and non-confrontational. She admits he may have mixed with a bad crowd when he was younger, but did not fit the profile of what the cops were trying to push. She insisted Freddie did smoke marijuana, but 'never raised his voice, never cursed, never talked back — he's always been a good kid.'
Per McKee, not only did Wilmoth not specify how he identified the cause of death prematurely, but a letter Dr. Stacy filed to a judge that August claimed the cause of death was still 'pending.'
McKee said a second toxicology report was mysteriously issued despite never being contacted by the medical examiner about the retesting of her son's blood. The second 'corrected' report, obtained by The Root, detailed extensively the evidence of injury from the original autopsy.
Dr. Stacy concluded Freddie's official cause of death was an 'accident caused by eutylone toxicity.' Another toxicology report, nearly identical to the first, included a new compound listed as a 'special request finding' which Freddie tested positive for: eutylone, a stimulant similar to Bath Salts. Who exactly requested the new test is unclear.
She called out the police who deemed her 'a liar' who 'knew about my son's drug abuse.' She added: 'How do you come to a death scene and you know already, on that day, that my son is an addict? Where did you get that information from?'
According to the report, Freddie tested positive for 5500 ng/ml of eutylone. However, his autopsy noted all of his internal organs were 'unremarkable' or absent of any damage. His heart, specifically, had no flaws.
'I didn't read anything about anything about his nose, like if he was snorting. They took his brain out and everything. So, for them to come back and for everything to be 'unremarkable' then how the hell are the police going to say that he had a history [of drug abuse]?' said McKee.
The Root asked Boone/Callaway County Medical Examiner's Office death investigator Stacey Huck about an 'expanded panel' in cases like Freddie's. He revealed that the test may run if the first test includes an 'out of scope' finding. Expanded panels are where synthetic substances specifically are tested.
When asked to detail the amount of eutylone found, Huck couldn't explain exactly what the results meant but said it implies a 'really high number.' Despite the scientific findings, McKee wasn't convinced and pushed to find her own answers.
The Root reached out to an expert to review the two autopsies. They also compared the findings to a globally known police brutality case that brought forth the same concerns.
What they had to say in Part 2 may surprise you...
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