Chavis Carter’s Death Ruled Suicide After Autopsy

Chavis Carter‘s death has been ruled as a suicide by the state crime lab who released an autopsy report Monday listing his cause of death as suicide.

The report also showed that the man who police say shot himself in the head, though his hands were cuffed behind him in the back of an Arkansas patrol car, tested positive for methamphetamine and anti-anxiety medication as well as other drugs, reports The Huffington Post.

The crime lab report states that the muzzle of a handgun Carter reportedly concealed from officers during his arrest was place on his right temple when it was fired. The report was signed by three different medical examiners and also includes the drug analysis.

Carter’s autopsy report was released to news organizations after a Freedom of Information Act request and shows that Chavis Carter’s blood also tested positive for trace amounts of diazepam and oxycodone. His urine also showed traces of marijuana in his system at the time of death. The report also stated:

“He was cuffed and placed into a police car, where apparently he produced a weapon, and despite being handcuffed, shot himself in the head.”

Chavis Carter was arrested by police on July 28 in Jonesboro, Arkansas for an outstanding drug warrant in his home state of Mississippi, according to The New York Daily News. Police released the dash cam video of the incident involving Carter’s death, but it sheds little light onto what exactly happened because the camera was turned off when Carter shot himself in the police car.

Carter’s family insists that their son was not suicidal and do not believe that he would have shot himself. Benjamin Irwin, the lawyer for Chavis’s family, stated:

“It’s strange, it’s unlike most you’ve ever seen before. This young man ends up dead in the back seat of a squad car when he’s in the one place where they have a duty and an obligation to protect him.”

Before Chavis Carter’s autopsy report was released, police officers released a video showing a reenactment of how Carter could have shot himself in the head despite his hands being cuffed behind his back.