Rodney King, victim of a civil rights violation in 1991, was found dead on Sunday in a swimming pool at his home in California. After TMZ cited controversy in his death, based on the suspicions of two of King's close friends, the autopsy has been completed but investigators face a long wait for the results. Also, new details have emerged from a neighbor who said that King was sobbing uncontrollably a few hours before his death.
An autopsy was conducted on Monday on the body of Rodney King. Toxicology results will show whether King who struggles with addiction throughout his life, had any alcohol or drugs in his system. There were no outward signs of alcohol or drug use that may have caused King to fall into the pool, police said. However, on Sunday investigators confiscated what appeared to be marijuana plants from King's home.
There were no signs of trauma and no traces of blood found on the concrete pool deck or in the water. King, an avid swimmer, was dressed in swim trunks when police pulled him from the water.
King's fiancée, Cynthia Kelly, told detectives that she was unable to get him out of the pool because she was a poor swimmer. Therefore, she called 911 after finding him.
New details may have led investigators to question what really occurred before King's death. A neighbor, Sandra Gardea, 31, stated that she heard music playing a man crying in King's backyard from about 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. She also heard Kelly trying to coax him back into the house.
It wasn't like an argument," Gardea said in the Los Angeles Times. "She was just saying, 'Get in the house. Get in the house.' "
Then there was silence, said Gardea, whose open bedroom window faces King's house. A few minutes later, Gardea said, she heard a splash.
Another neighbor, Dee Schnepf, 58, said that it was not uncommon for King to take a swim at night or early in the morning, and that "he liked to swim in the dark."
Lawrence Spagnola, who helped King write his memoir "The Riot Within: From Rebellion to Redemption", said King was proud of the book and hoped it signaled a new chapter in his life, when he wouldn't just be remembered as a beating victim.
"Rodney was tired of being the Rodney who was always asked about the beating and if he'd forgiven the cops," Spagnola said. King was happiest when he was outdoors and the two men talked about meeting for a fishing trip, Spagnola said.
King's cause of death will not be made public until the completion of toxicology tests in six to eight weeks.
For more background on Rodney King and what occurred 21 years ago in Los Angeles, click here.
