Autopsy findings into the May 10 death of 17-year-old Henry Clay High School student are still incomplete, the county coroner said.
Gary Ginn said the Emeka Emmanuel Mwakadi case is being considered an ‘open death investigation’.
He died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center after a medical emergency in a classroom at Henry Clay High School.
“The records, along with the police report, the autopsy report and the toxicology report” are incomplete, Ginn said. “We will await this before we can comment further.”
Mwakadi’s family released a new statement through her lawyer Justin Peterson on Thursday:
“We continue to investigate the case as we await final results from the coroner and review medical records and other reports from various local agencies. We continue to receive calls from concerned parents and students that we are also looking into. Any further action in this matter will be the result of a thorough review and investigation.”
The statement continued: “The family appreciates the calls for change in Fayette County Schools that have been expressed by many and hopes to continue leading the efforts to bring about that change so that no family ever has to endure this tragedy again.”
Fayette school officials did not immediately comment Thursday evening.
In addition, Peterson said Thursday that before his death, Mwakadi had planned to participate in Henry Clay’s graduation ceremony, scheduled for Friday evening. He said Mwakadi had been accepted for enrollment at Bluegrass Community and Technical College.
Peterson initially said, and the Herald-Leader reported, that Mwakadi broke up a fight the day he died, according to witness accounts.
Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins then told the families that his investigation showed Mwakadi was not involved in a fight on the day he died.
“We initiated an investigation that thoroughly tracked Emmanuel’s movements throughout the building on the morning of Friday, May 10,” Liggins said in his email.
“It is important to clarify that Emmanuel never entered a toilet on May 10, nor was he involved in a fight, or in breaking up a fight,” he added. “Nevertheless, these facts do not diminish the impact of his loss, and we want to move forward by honoring and remembering Emmanuel.”
The family and attorney said in a later statement that they agreed with Liggins that the fight did not occur on the day of Emmanuel’s death, as they originally told the Herald-Leader based on witness statements.
Actually, they said, it happened in the days before his death.
The family said through their attorney that a fight took place at Henry Clay High school. Peterson has video showing Emmanuel intervening to break up the fight in the hallway.
During his intervention, Emmanuel was struck several times, including a blow to the head, Peterson said.
Peterson said Emmanuel complained of head and neck pain after breaking up the fight, and that preliminary autopsy results included a frontal lobe brain injury. However, Ginn did not confirm these claims to the Herald-Leader.
Peterson has said he is investigating the exact day of the fight.
Lexington Fire Major Derek Roberts has said that firefighters, responding to a call of a student having a seizure, were dispatched to the school at 10:09 a.m. on May 10.
Emmanuel died that day at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
An autopsy was performed on May 11. The cause and manner of death will be determined once the final autopsy report is completed, the Fayette County coroner’s office previously said.
It is still unclear whether Mwakadi’s death was the result of blows he said the family received during a fight, as seen in a video from Peterson.
Earlier in May, the Liggins family asked the school board to “provide resources to improve student safety” within the school.
District officials previously declined to comment on the video that showed Mwakadi being punched, according to the family. Peterson requested that the school district preserve and produce all videos of Henry Clay from the past 30 days.
