The body of
Rodney King was discovered at the bottom of a pool by his fiancee last month, with the cause of death listed as "accidental drowning."
That may technically still be the case, but the official death report
has come out and it's undeniable now that the man whose 1991 beating
sparked riots in Los Angeles stumbled to his demise at the result of
numerous substances in his body.
It's unclear if he jumped or fell into the
water, according to the coroner, but King was "in a state of drug and
alcohol induced delirium" at the time of his passing.
"The effects of the drugs and alcohol,
combined with [King's preexisting heart condition] probably precipitated
a cardiac arrhythmia and [King], thus incapacitated, was unable to save
himself and drowned," reads the report, which adds that King was lying
naked in the deep end of the pool by the time EMTs arrived.
Cynthia Kelly attempted to rescue her
fiance with items such as a pitchfork, a hoe and a vacuum pool sweeper -
all of which surrounded the area, the report confirms - because she
considered herself a poor swimmer and was afraid of jumping in.