Latest news with #autopsy
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Illinois coroner releases new details about woman found dead on illegal immigrant's property
An Illinois coroner has refuted claims that a woman found dead in a storage container at the home of an illegal immigrant was decapitated. The Lake County Coroner's Office released a statement Monday following its autopsy on Megan Bos, 37, saying a key finding contradicted media reports as well as a statement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that claimed she had been beheaded. Bos' body was found by police in April in a container in a yard belonging to Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, a Mexican illegal immigrant who was arrested and charged in the case but released after his first court appearance, sparking outrage. Bos' mother has slammed Illinois Gov. Immigration authorities in Chicago arrested him last week. "At no point was Megan decapitated before or after her death," the office said, adding that no signs of trauma or struggle were found in the April 11 autopsy. Bos's body was in an advanced state of decomposition and exposed to chemical substances, complicating cause-of-death analysis, the office said. "This misinformation has caused unnecessary distress to the family and misrepresents the facts of this investigation." A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Bos' body was found badly dismembered and in a bleach storage container, in response to the coroner's statement. Bos' cause of death remains undetermined, with toxicology showing fentanyl, cocaine and morphine in her system, the coroner's office said. The coroner's office said her death is suspicious, potentially drug-related or homicidal, but not conclusively one or the other. The office said that asphyxial death is possible but hard to confirm due to decomposition. "These circumstances raise the suspicion of a homicidal death or possibly a drug-related death," the coroner's office said. "Asphyxial homicides may include no external or internal evidence of injury. Furthermore, the decomposition of the body at the time of discovery complicates interpretation of sometimes minute physical findings suggestive of asphyxia." Bos' body was found in a plastic garbage container in Mendoza-Gonzalez's yard in Waukegan, Illinois. "Fentanyl, cocaine metabolites and morphine were identified in the liver tissue, indicating recent potentially lethal cocaine, fentanyl and probable heroin use," the statement reads. "Making a distinction between an accidental drug intoxication and an asphyxial death based solely on the autopsy findings, both the absence of significant trauma and the presence of potentially lethal drugs in the decedent's body, is not possible." Mendoza-Gonzalez was arrested in April and charged with concealing a corpse, abusing a corpse and obstruction of justice but was ordered released by Lake County Judge Randie Bruno after his first court appearance. He was arrested again Saturday afternoon at a market in Chicago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and remains in ICE custody, according to DHS. "It is absolutely repulsive [that] this monster walked free on Illinois' streets after allegedly committing such a heinous crime," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News previously. "Megan Bos and her family will have justice." Bos was reported missing on March 9, but family members said she disappeared in February. Mendoza-Gonzalez is accused of keeping Bos' body in his yard for nearly two months and abusing her corpse. Mendoza-Gonzalez allegedly told authorities Bos overdosed at his house and, instead of calling 911, he broke her phone and kept her body in the basement for two days before moving it outside, according to the report. After Mendoza-Gonzalez's release in April, Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner criticized laws that allowed the suspected criminal alien to be released, according to a report from affiliate FOX 32 Chicago. "I was shocked to find out literally the next day that the person that they had arrested for this had been released from prison under the SAFE-T Act less than, detained less, I think, than 48 hours," Gartner said. "There's other extenuating circumstances in this case. Not only the type of crime, how long the crime was concealed, the fact that the person that was arrested for this is not a U.S. citizen, and, you know, can maybe [flee] the country."
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Bossier City man dies after being found unresponsive in Shreveport lodge pool
The Caddo Parish Coroner's Office has identified a Bossier City man who was found unresponsive in the Shreveport Elks Lodge pool Sunday, July 20. According to the coroner's office, Michael McMillon, 61, was in the pool at the lodge in the 300 block of East Preston Avenue with family members when EMS was dispatched because McMillon was unresponsive. He was transported to WK Pierremont Health Center emergency room just before 1:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 2:24 p.m. According to the coroner's office, the manner and cause of death is still pending autopsy and toxicology results. More: Top 5 stories from the Shreveport Times this week: Louisiana snakes, rodents on traps at restaurants Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@ This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Bossier City man dies, found unresponsive in Shreveport Elks Lodge pool Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation." Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. ___
Associated Press
a day ago
- Associated Press
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure 'associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation.' Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. ___ Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. She is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Police investigating suspicious death in downtown west end
Calgary police are investigating a suspicious death after a man was found dead in a residence in the downtown west end. According to a news release shared Saturday, at 7:45 a.m. police responded to the 600 block of 10th Street after receiving a report of a deceased man inside the residence. An autopsy has been scheduled for Monday, and investigation into the cause of the death is still ongoing. Police have asked anyone with any information on the incident to contact them at 403-266-1234 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers via these methods: TALK: 1-800-222-8477 TYPE: APP: P3 Tips
