A reexamined autopsy of Ronald Greene — which was ordered by the FBI — has disputed the Louisiana Police claim that his fatal injuries were caused in a car crash.
According to the Associated Press, a second autopsy attributed Greene’s death to a number of things, including troopers striking him in the head, restraining him for long periods of time and the 49-year-old’s use of cocaine. The autopsy also determined that several of Greene’s injuries, including a ruptured aorta and a fractured breastbone, were most likely the result of life-saving efforts — such as CPR — from first responders.
As of now, it is unclear whether the new autopsy will provoke the Union Parish coroner to change Greene’s manner of death from accidental to homicide. If that change does occur, it would alter the charges available to federal and state prosecutors.
As REVOLT previously reported, back in 2019, state troopers told Greene’s relatives that he died in a crash following a chase in Monroe, Louisiana. They later issued a statement saying that there was a struggle with Greene and he died on the way to the hospital. For more than two years, Governor John Bel Edwards refused to release the body camera footage of his arrest.
The footage was finally released in May 2021. It showed the troopers ordering Greene to remain face down with his hands and feet restrained for more than nine minutes. He was also tased, tackled, punched and placed in a chokehold by troopers, as he apologized. None of the troopers have been charged for his death.
Mona Hardin, Greene’s mother, said she hopes the new report can bring her family justice “so I can put my son to rest.” She said that she has not been able to bury her son’s cremated remains. “This thing has been so crazy. No one has properly grieved,” Hardin stated.
A Louisiana State Police spokesperson told Insider that the department “continues to offer our full cooperation and has been provided no further information on the ongoing federal investigation.”
“As the department awaits the findings of the federal investigation, the men and women of the Department of Public Safety remain dedicated to professional public service across our state,” the spokesperson added.