No External Cause Of Death Found In Autopsy Of Suspect Who Died After Arrest By Ocean City PD

(BALTIMORE, MD) – Complete results of an autopsy conducted on the body of a Delaware man who died after being arrested on drug charges by the Ocean City Police Department yesterday are pending, but the preliminary post-mortem found no signs of external injuries that would have caused his death and did find signs that he may have ingested drugs.

An autopsy was initiated today at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore on the body of Jerry L. Weston, 37, of Greenwood, DE. Weston and two others were arrested early yesterday morning on drug charges by the Ocean City Police Department. Weston became ill while being processed at the police department and was transported by ambulance to Atlantic General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

The Ocean City Police Department requested the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit investigate the death of Weston. A State Police Homicide Unit investigator attended the autopsy today in Baltimore.

The preliminary information from the autopsy indicates there was no sign of any external trauma that would have caused the death of Weston. Pathologists did find pieces of latex and a substance believed to be cocaine in Weston’s digestive tract, which is consistent with his statement to police and medical personnel while he was in distress that he had ingested cocaine.

Doctors at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner have ordered additional tests, including toxicology screenings, as part of this autopsy. Those results are pending and could take up to a month or more to obtain. Therefore, a ruling has not been made on Weston’s cause and manner of death. The autopsy remains open pending the results of the ongoing tests.

The Maryland State Police investigation is continuing.