BALTIMORE (AP) - An independent autopsy on a man who had a fatal encounter with Baltimore police found he died of asphyxiation while being restrained - not a heart condition as the state autopsy found.
Forty-four-year-old Tyrone West died after a struggle with police following a traffic stop in July 2013. Maryland's Office of the Medical Examiner had determined he died of a heart condition while suffering the effects of extremely hot weather.
His sister, Tawanda Jones, commissioned the new autopsy by Adel Shaker, a Board-certified pathologist based in Alabama. Shaker's report says West died of so-called positional asphyxia from being restrained in a prone position.
The officers involved in West's death have not been charged with any crimes. An internal probe identified numerous ways police mishandled the investigation, but stopped short of placing blame on the officers.
