Floyd died by homicide: medical examiner

Hennepin County, Minnesota, medical examiners officially ruled George Floyd’s death a homicide in a postmortem report released yesterday.

On May 25, Floyd ‘‘experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained’’ by law enforcement, said the report released by the county medical examiner’s office that serves Minneapolis.

The cause of death was ‘‘cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression.’’

He died at 9.25pm. A preliminary autopsy released on Saturday by the county ruled out strangulation and said ‘‘the combined effects of Mr Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.’’

The new report mentioned that Floyd had heart disease. It also noted fentanyl intoxication and ‘‘recent methamphetamine use’’ as significant conditions, but it did not describe them as contributors. The county did not immediately respond to a request for comment explaining the update.

An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd’s family determined that the cause of his death was ‘‘asphyxiation from sustained pressure,’’ attorneys for the family announced yesterday.

Floyd died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into the 46-year-old black man’s neck for more than eight minutes. – Washington Post