The DA’s office said the autopsy will be released to the public soon.
The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Tire Nichols showed she “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family Tuesday.
While Nichols’ mother said first responders told her her son was drunk and high, the report showed his blood alcohol level was .049, the DA’s office said. The district attorney’s office told the family it was “less than the legal driving limit.”
Nichols’ mother never believed that her son was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
The district attorney’s office told the Nichols family that the autopsy will be released to the public soon.
Nichols, 29, died three days after he was beaten by officers during a Jan. 7 traffic stop in Memphis. Footage of the altercation shows officers punching Nichols repeatedly.
Seven Memphis Police Department officers have been fired for their roles in the arrest. Five of them have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Nichols.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters Tuesday that an autopsy on Nichols is nearing completion and that his office expects to confirm that Nichols “died as a result of injuries sustained in the beating. “
A preliminary independent autopsy commissioned by Nichols’ family in January found that he suffered from “extensive bleeding from severe beatings.”
Attorneys for Nichols’ family said Wednesday that the contents of the medical examiner’s report “are very consistent with our own reporting in January of this year.”
“We know now what we knew then. Tire Nichols died of blunt force trauma and the manner of death was homicide,” the attorneys, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, said in a statement. “The official autopsy report further drives our commitment to seek justice for this senseless tragedy.”