|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Redwood City man at the center of a highly disputed car crash that killed two and was found dead in his jail cell three years later died of a drug overdose, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe.
The coroner’s office determined that Kyle Harrison, 25, who was found dead on March 15 in custody at the Maple Street Correctional Center after being sentenced in a fatal crash that killed a San Carlos couple, died of an “accidental overdose” involving several prescription drugs, according to Wagstaffe.
The coroner’s office determined Harrison’s death was caused by prescription medications, “not illegal drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine or anything like that.”
Wagstaffe added that the coroner concluded the death was not illegal or improper and “that it was just a drug overdose.” However, the district attorney’s office is continuing to investigate and has interviewed Harrison’s cellmates and on-duty staff as part of the review.
The autopsy and toxicology reports have not yet been made public. Wagstaffe said they will be released once the investigation and accompanying report are complete, likely within one to one and a half weeks.
He noted that whenever someone dies in jail, both the coroner’s office and the district attorney’s office conduct independent investigations, separate from the sheriff’s office.
According to a press release from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, the death was caused by the toxic effects of three medications: methadone, amitriptyline and gabapentin, as determined by the Coroner’s Office.
The coroner ruled the manner of death an “accident,” the release said.
The Sheriff’s Office said it will provide an update once its independent investigation is complete, following the district attorney’s findings.
At the time of his death, Harrison had fewer than two years left to serve, due to time served and good behavior credits, and was awaiting transfer to a state prison.
