The preliminary results of the county’s autopsy instead seemed to exonerate the police for their actions.
The report suggests he died from a combination of heart disease and “potential intoxicants in his system” that were exacerbated by the restraint placed on him by police officers.
The Floyd family revealed Friday they have now hired the services of renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to conduct a second, independent autopsy.
Baden is set to travel to Minneapolis on Saturday and told Fox News he will discuss his findings next week.
The county’s autopsy results were revealed Friday after former police officer Derek Michael Chauvin, who was shown kneeling on Floyd’s neck during his arrest on Monday, was charged with his murder.
The criminal complaint filed against Chauvin, 44, cited that preliminary findings from a Tuesday autopsy conducted by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner saw “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation”.
“Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease,’ said the complaint from the Hennepin County Attorney.
“The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
The full medical examiner’s report is pending.
Family attorney’s Ben Crump and S. Lee Merritt said in a press conference Friday that they have called on Dr. Michael Baden, a renowned forensic pathologist, to conduct an independent autopsy instead of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office.
Dr. Baden is a highly respected pathologist with a history of contradicting questionable official reports, including the cases of Epstein, OJ Simpson, and Eric Garner, who died in 2014 while being placed in an unauthorized chokehold by NYPD Officer Daniel Panteleo.
Panteleo wasn’t criminally charged but was fired from the police force in 2019.
Crump said: “We’re going to take custody back of George Floyd’s body, and we’re bringing in Dr. Michael Baden to perform an independent autopsy because we saw in the Eric Garner case and so many other cases where they have these people who work with the city come up with things that are such an illusion.
“They’re going to have their own autopsy. We’re not going to rely on this DA or this city to tell us the truth. We already saw the truth.
“He had asthma, he had a heart condition – all these things that are irrelevant when they were living, breathing, walking, talking, just fine until the police accosted them.”
They also called for a more serious charge to be brought against Chauvin and for the arrests of the three other officers who were fired alongside Chauvin over Floyd’s death – J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.
“We call on authorities to revise the charges [against Chauvin] to reflect the culpability of this officer,’ the statement continued.
“We fully expect to see the other officers who did nothing to protect the life of George Floyd to be arrested and charged soon.”
