Family’s Autopsy Disputes Findings In Tucson Police Custody Death

TUCSON, AZ — A 27-year-old man restrained by Tucson police this spring likely suffocated to death while in custody, an independent autopsy ordered by the man’s family suggests. The family of Adrian Ingram-Lopez ordered a second examination after an autopsy by the Pima County medical examiner showed he died of “sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of acute cocaine intoxication and physical restraint.”

Three Tucson police officers restrained Ingram-Lopez after his grandmother called 911 in the early morning hours of April 21. Officers chased a naked Ingram-Lopez through a dimly lit garage, wrestled him to the ground and then handcuffed him, positioning him facing down, according to reports by the Arizona Daily Star and Arizona Republic.

Ingram-Lopez was restrained for 12 minutes, according to body-camera video released by Tucson police. A report in The Republic said he is heard wheezing on the video, asking for water and telling police that he couldn’t breathe — which became a rallying cry for demonstrators nationwide calling for police reform after George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a police officer’s knee on his neck.

Believing Ingram-Lopez had overdosed on cocaine, police administered Narcan, commonly used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoes, and then began CPR. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical technicians.

The initial autopsy showed Ingram-Lopez was high on cocaine at the time and had an enlarged heart. The independent autopsy conducted by Dr. Philip Keen, formerly the appointed medical examiner in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, noted Ingram-Lopez’s use of cocaine, but not the enlarged heart.

The initial autopsy report said Ingram-Lopez "was reportedly restrained by law enforcement following erratic behavior, including shouting, at the residence of a relative. He was reportedly restrained in a prone position with a spit hood and became unresponsive."

But Keen said Ingram-Lopez’s use of cocaine wasn’t an overriding factor in his death. Rather, his “death is most consistent with asphyxia due to compromised airway which is best explained by a face-down position restricting his breathing,” according to the Arizona Republic report. Keen also said that the placement of Ingram’s hands behind his back in handcuffs may have contributed to his suffocation.

An internal investigation initially cleared the three officers involved, the Arizona Daily Star reported. A subsequent investigation ordered by Police Chief Chris Magnus recommended they be fired for allegedly violating policies on proper prisoner handling. The three officers — Samuel Routledge, Ryan Starbuck and Jonathan Jackson — have subsequently resigned.

After reviewing the video, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement that “as mayor and as a mother, I am troubled and outraged by what happened.”

"In the video we see a person who is clearly distressed, asking for water, asking for help, asking for his nana," Romero said. "Now we must center the conversation on police accountability and transparency."

Attorney Eduardo Coronado told the Daily Star that Ingram-Lopez’s family is considering a lawsuit against the city after reviewing Keen’s findings, and also said the family believes the three officers involved should be criminally charged.

Coronado said Lopez-Ingram the video shows Lopez-Ingram telling officers he was sorry, raising his hands and then getting on his knees and back. “He complied with every single command by police, and they still held him in that position, on top of him, for approximately 12 minutes,” the family’s attorney said.

"The fact that Adrian was placed face-down on his stomach while being handcuffed to his back, that in itself can cause positional asphyxia, especially in a big boy like Adrian," Coronado said. "That was not the case in Adrian's case — he had approximately 600 pounds of compression on his back from the three officers."

Ingram-Lopez’s mother, Iris Lizarrago, asked for the independent autopsy “to figure out the truth so there would be justice,” Coronado told the Republic, adding: “When it came back last week, their reaction is that they were getting some answers.”

The Pima County Attorney’s Office has received the family-commissioned autopsy report, which Chief Criminal Deputy David Berkman told the Republic is “uncommon.”

"The only thing that I can comment on is that it's a different conclusion that was come to by the (Office of the Medical Examiner)" Berkman said. "We'll consider it and well look at it and we'll investigate it."

» Read more on the Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star.