Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP detected in Rodney King’s blood contributed to his death, authorities said Thursday. King drowned accidentally in June, but alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana were also in his system.
Who is Rodney King?
Rodney Glen King was an African American man who was killed by police on June 17, 2012. He was born on April 2, 1965. On March 3, 1991, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers beat him when they caught him driving drunk on the I-210 after a chase.
George Holliday, who was not involved, filmed the event from his balcony nearby and sent the video to the local news station KTLA. The video showed King being beaten on the ground while he was unarmed. At first, King had tried to avoid being arrested. The news about the event spread all over the world and made people very angry.
Is Rodney King Still Alive?
No, Rodney King is no more with us.
Cynthia Kelley, King’s partner, discovered his body at the bottom of the pool on Father’s Day, June 17, 2012. Exactly 28 years and one day after his father, Ronald King, was discovered dead in a bathtub in 1984, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kelley called the Rialto police at 5:25 a.m. (PDT).
Officers arrived and pulled King from the water, giving him CPR. His heart had stopped beating, so paramedics took him to an ambulance with advanced life support and tried to revive him there. At 6:11 a.m., after being taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California (PDT) The Rialto Police Department initiated a routine investigation into the drowning and concluded that no foul play appeared to have occurred.
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The autopsy results on King’s death were made public on August 23, 2012, and they determined that he drowned accidentally. Contributing factors included cardiomegaly, localized myocardial fibrosis, and the presence of alcohol, cocaine, and PCP in his system.
According to the report’s findings, “the subject, debilitated in the water, was unable to save himself due to the effects of the drugs and alcohol, along with the subject’s heart condition.”
At King’s funeral, Al Sharpton gave the eulogy. Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California is where King is laid to rest.
What is the Reason for Rodney Glen King’s Death?
Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP were detected in Rodney King’s system, but his death in June was ruled an accident.
Authorities and King’s girlfriend say he was found dead in the pool at his Rialto, California, home on June 17. His beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on tape and provoked rioting after the acquittal of the four policemen involved. He was 47.
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According to the postmortem report released by the San Bernardino County coroner on Thursday, King was “in a state of drug and alcohol-induced delirium” when he “either fell or leaped” into the swimming pool.
Timeline of Events in Rodney King’s Life
Police say that around 5:25 a.m. on that Sunday morning, King’s fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, discovered him at the bottom of the pool and immediately dialed 911 for assistance. Officers dragged him out of the water and started CPR before paramedics arrived. According to the authorities, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Kelly, who served as a jury in King’s 1994 lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, allegedly lied to police about King’s swimming ability, telling them that King was an “avid swimmer.”
According to Kelley’s statement to the police, King was “heavily intoxicated” when she went to bed at 2:45 a.m. After a while, she “woke up to hear the subject beating on the locked rear patio sliding glass door,” as stated in the autopsy report. She said, “He was grunting and growling, with frothy discharges flowing from his mouth.”
According to the allegation, King called out to his girlfriend, “Baby come and rescue me.”
There was a planter on the plant covering to the east of the patio sliding glass door, and the subject “at that time was wearing his underwear down to his legs and then presumably fell backward into the planter,” it read.
Kelley rushed back inside to fetch her phone to call for help, but “heard a splash in the pool and walked out to the backyard to discover the subject face down on the bottom of the deep end of the pool,” it stated. She tried to arouse him by jabbing at him with a pitchfork and hoe she found in the backyard, but she was a poor swimmer.
Zhan Paul King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s younger brother, told detectives that his sibling “had been doing quite well and was joyful” while on the road to promote a book commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots. His “life looked to have been in order,” according to the coroner’s findings.
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Reports state that the sibling “was no longer taking strong street narcotics or using Phencyclidine (PCP). Several narcotics, including PCP, were detected in his blood during the postmortem.
Almost a full year after the riots in Los Angeles, four police officers were tried for civil rights violations in federal court. Two of the defendants were convicted guilty and given 30-month prison terms, while the other two were found not guilty. King also filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles and was awarded $3.8 million in compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions…
What Was Rodney King’s Wealth at the Time of His Passing?
The net worth of Rodney King was $250 thousand. King was assaulted by cops on March 3, 1991. The incident was captured on camera by onlooker George Holliday.
What is Rodney King’s Age Now?
King died of drowning in his private pool on June 17, 2012, at the age of 47.
What Were Rodney King’s Most Renowned Words?
On May 1, 1992, Rodney King asked, “People, I’d like to ask, why can’t we all get along? Why can’t we get along?” Police captured King on March 3, 1991, after a pursuit.