Official autopsy of Andrew Brown Jr. lists death as homicide by gunshot to back of head
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The state medical examiner's report on the death of Andrew Brown Jr. confirms he was killed by a gunshot to the back of the head.
The state's report was released June 10, more than a month after Brown's death.
It lists Brown's cause of death as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the back of the head. That finding matches up with the independent report commissioned by Brown's family.
However, the state's report and the independent report differ as to how many other gunshot wounds Brown suffered. The state's report said Brown was shot just one other time (in the arm), and it noted several other bullet holes in Brown's vehicle's trunk, back windshield, and the passenger side rear door and windshield.
The medical examiner also noted in their report that CPR and other first aid appeared to have been given to Brown after he was shot and crashed into a tree.
The medical examiner's report lists Brown's time of death at 8:33 a.m. on April 21, which is just minutes after deputies arrived to serve his warrant for arrest, according to District Attorney Andrew Womble--who decided none of the deputies involved in Brown's death should face criminal charges.
Two of the deputies involved in the shooting have since returned to work. One of them resigned.
Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy S. Wooten II said previously that the deputies involved in the shooting would be disciplined and retrained.
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The deputies were part of an investigation into Brown that had been going on for some time. Investigators said they had video of undercover officers buying cocaine and methamphetamine from Brown on numerous occasions. They now wanted to search his home and had gotten a warrant approving them to do just that.
When deputies arrived to serve the warrant, their interaction with Brown lasted just 44 seconds, according to Womble. He used that as part of his reasoning for determining that the deputies were justified in their use of force against Brown.
Brown's family and supporters see it differently. They called the deputies' actions an "execution."
The American Civil Liberties Union said Womble's decision to not pursue any charges is evidence of a problem with the American justice system.
"It should not come as a surprise that the criminal legal system has upheld the legitimacy of another police murder of a Black person," the statement said. "Communities deserve justice and accountability, but history shows justice for people of color is rare in a system that was built upon slavery and has been modified over time to control and limit the lives of those who are not white."
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels, and Chantel Cherry-Lassiter released the following statement after the release of the autopsy on Thursday:
"The autopsy results prove what we've always known to be true: Pasquotank County deputies executed Andrew Brown Jr. with a kill shot to the back of the head. The false narrative that DA Womble has attempted to weave is completely discredited by this autopsy report.
While we are not surprised by the findings, we are both astounded and disgusted that the authorities in this case didn't even have the decency to share these results with the family - we were alerted of their release by the media. Every single opportunity DA Womble has had to do the right thing, he's taken the route of cowardice and deceit. Shame on him.
Despite law enforcement's and the district attorney's best efforts to hide the facts in this case, and paint Andrew as a villain, we are confident that the truth will be revealed and justice will prevail. We will continue to demand release of video footage from the day Andrew was killed, and we won't stop fighting for transparency and accountability from law enforcement and the district attorney. From what we've seen thus far from both parties, we have a long way to go."
