A complete autopsy of George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man, who was handcuffed and restrained to death by Minneapolis Police, was released on Wednesday.
The final report reveals several important clinical findings, including the fact where Floyd had tested positive for the CoronaVirus.
The final autopsy also mentioned that Floyd’s death was in fact due to cardiopulmonary arrest, after being brutally restrained by police officials.
The 20 pages long, the detailed medical report was released by Hennepin County’s Medical Examiner’s Office, after seeking permission from Floyd’s family members. The summary of the medical findings was first revealed on Monday, where the office released statements relating to Floyd suffering from a heart attack, during a holdup by the police. Hence, his death was classified as a homicide.
Evidence in the form of a bystander’s video shows Minneapolis cop named Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
Despite revealing the positive COVID-19 results, the medical office has issued a statement claiming that the infection was most likely old. It is further believed that Floyd was asymptomatic during his time of death. The report was released with the following statement:
‘The decedent was known to be positive for 2019-nCoV RNA on 4/3/2020. Since PCR positivity for 2019-nCoV RNA can persist for weeks after the onset and resolution of clinical disease, the autopsy result most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent PCR positivity from the previous infection.’
In any way, this report does not suggest that the disease played a role in Floyd’s death. His death was declared as homicide, which matched the same conclusion as in the independent autopsy that took place, earlier during the week.
At the same time, it was mentioned how Floyd had a heart disease history with clear traces of both fentanyl as well as methamphetamine in his body. These were further listed as ‘other significant conditions.’ Floyd’s lungs were also cleared as healthy and no evidence relating to ‘strangulation or asphyxia’ was seen.
Despite all these findings, a dispute did arise amongst doctors who performed the independent autopsy as well as the family’s attorneys. The debate was related to their claims that the deceased had no medical history for heart conditions and hence could not play a role in his death.