J. Alexander Kueng, George Floyd

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has released the results of its autopsy of the late African-American security guard George Perry Floyd of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, United States. Fentanyl and methamphetamine were mentioned in the report.

Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression caused Floyd’s death and the manner of death was homicide, according to the autopsy. Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use were enumerated as other significant conditions.

Floyd experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by former Minneapolis Police District officers Derek Michael Chauvin, 44, Thomas Lane, 37, and J. Alexander Kueng, 26, based on the autopsy. Their former colleague Tou Thao, 34, did not physically touch Floyd but watched the fatal arrest while interacting with the eyewitnesses.

On March 25, 2020, Chauvin was caught on tape kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in front of Cup Foods at 3759 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota while Kueng and Lane were holding the arrestee’s back and legs, respectively. The African-American man was accused of buying cigarettes from the grocery store with a fake $20 bill.

At 9:25 p.m. that night, Floyd was declared dead at the emergency room of the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was 46.

“Manner of death classification is a statutory function of the medical examiner, as part of death certification for purposes of vital statistics and public health,” the Hennepin County Medical Examiner explained. “Manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent and should not be used to usurp the judicial process.”

“Such decisions are outside the scope of the Medical Examiner’s role or authority,” the examiner continued. “Under Minnesota state law, the Medical Examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency.”