Autopsy Says Muslim Died From Shot at Close Range

A formal autopsy report released Friday concluded that the bullet that took the life of a Muslim during a confrontation with Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies nearly two weeks ago was fired at point-blank range and entered his head a few inches behind his right ear.

Sheriff’s Lt. Frank Merriman said that conclusion supported the contention of sheriff’s investigators that Oliver Beasley, 27, was shot to death as he struggled for control of a deputy’s handgun. Sheriff’s investigators have said the two men were in close physical contact when the fatal shot was fired.

A Muslim member told 80 community activists last week that some witnesses to the Jan. 23 shooting said Beasley was shot as he tried to return a weapon that had been taken from the deputy during a struggle. The Muslim also said, according to the witnesses, that Beasley was shot again as he lay handcuffed on the ground and was dragged by his ankles down the street.

The Nation of Islam, which has conducted its own investigation into the incident, has not given its official version of what happened.

The autopsy report--which amplified a sketchy assessment of Beasley’s wounds released last Friday--contained no evidence that Beasley was handcuffed or dragged down the street.

Sheriff’s officials have described the reports from witnesses as “preposterous” and Friday pointed to the autopsy findings as evidence to back up their position.

According to the report, there were no bruises on Beasley’s body beyond small cuts on his hands and knuckles. In addition, “no holes were evident”--other than small tears in his pants caused by a minor graze wound to the hip--in the suit Beasley was wearing, the report said.

Coroner’s spokesman Bob Dambacher did not comment on whether the report supports or refutes anyone’s version of the incident. And he said there were no plans to continue the county’s investigation into Beasley’s death.

But Merriman said the report bolsters what sheriff’s officials have been saying all along.

Beasley was one of two men shot in the confrontation that flared shortly after a deputy and a trainee stopped a car driven by David Hartley, 18, for a minor traffic violation in an unincorporated area south of downtown Los Angeles.

Sheriff’s officials contend that the shooting started after about 10 men came out of a nearby apartment building and attacked them from behind and took a handgun from the trainee. That deputy drew a backup weapon and fired five shots. Hartley was wounded in the shoulder. Beasley was shot in the head and died on the sidewalk.

“He (Beasley) was fighting for the officer’s weapon at the time he was shot,” Merriman said. “He was still involved in the struggle when the shot was fired.”

Community activist Danny Bakewell suggested that an independent investigator may be hired to pursue the matter further, to “act on behalf of the African American community.”

“The fact that they’re now talking about point-blank range is a new set of circumstances, we never heard that before. It sounds to me like somebody stuck a gun in somebody’s head and fired it. Why would that automatically suggest a struggle? It just confirms what we always felt, that no law enforcement agency should have the luxury of investigating itself.”

Nation of Islam officials could not be reached for comment.

Dambacher did not elaborate on the autopsy findings but did speculate on what may have caused the small cuts on Beasley’s hands.

“He might have fallen on his hands or hit something prior to falling,” he said.

Beyond those cuts and the minor graze wounds on Beasley’s right hip, there was no evidence of other injuries that might have been sustained in the fracas, the autopsy report said.

“There are no fractures of the ribs, vertebral column, or pelvis,” the coroner’s report said. “There were no other fatal injuries, in particular no fatal blunt force or sharp force traumatic injuries.”

Some Muslims have insisted that the deputies used excessive force and provoked the deadly confrontation, which has sparked tension in some segments of the black community.

A separate autopsy is being conducted by a pathologist hired by Beasley’s family. But that pathologist “has not concluded his autopsy report yet,” said Eric Ferrer, an attorney representing Beasley’s family in the case. “We don’t know what it says.”

Hartley has been charged with felony counts of removing a firearm from an officer, battery on an officer and resisting arrest. Prosecutors declined to file charges because of insufficient evidence against five other men arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.