How did the independent autopsy commissioned by George Floyd’s family in 2020 describe the cause of death?
Executive summary
The independent autopsy commissioned by George Floyd’s family concluded that he died from asphyxia due to sustained pressure on his neck and back, a finding announced by the family’s forensic experts and attorneys [1] [2]. That private exam framed the death as a homicide caused by mechanical asphyxiation, a conclusion that directly contradicted early characterizations by some officials but aligned broadly with public video and later court findings [3] [4].
1. What the family-commissioned exam said, in plain terms
Two forensic pathologists hired by Floyd’s legal team—Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson—reported that the cause of death was asphyxia from sustained pressure on the back and neck, and that the evidence was consistent with mechanical asphyxia leading to homicide [1] [3] [2].
2. Who released the finding and what motivations mattered
The results were announced publicly by the Floyd family’s attorneys, including Benjamin Crump, who commissioned the independent autopsy as part of the family’s legal and public-relations response to Floyd’s death; the autopsy was therefore both a medical and legal document intended to support the family’s case and public narrative [1] [4].
3. How that private autopsy compared to the county medical examiner’s report
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s official report ultimately listed “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression” as the cause of death and ruled the manner a homicide, noting contributing factors such as heart disease and intoxicants—language that differs in emphasis from the family’s autopsy but not necessarily in core implication that restraint caused death [5] [6] [4].
4. Why the two autopsies sounded different but may not be irreconcilable
Forensic experts and reporting at the time explained that differences were largely stylistic and forensic—public and professional confusion stems from expecting a single, simple cause of death when pathologists often list a precise mechanism (asphyxia) alongside modes and contributing conditions (cardiopulmonary arrest; heart disease; drugs) [7] [6]. Independent and official exams thus emphasized different pieces of a complex medical picture: the family’s team foregrounded asphyxia from neck/back compression, while the county’s report detailed cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by restraint and other health factors [2] [5].
5. What other facts the independent autopsy team noted and how critics responded
The family’s report stressed mechanical asphyxia and homicide; it did not ignore context including possible contributing factors, but framed sustained pressure by officers as the proximate lethal mechanism [3] [2]. Critics and some commentators warned that private autopsies commissioned by legal teams carry advocacy aims and that independent experts can differ on interpretation; at the same time, multiple independent experts and later court testimony concluded that drugs and heart disease were contributing but not the primary cause of death, supporting the view that restraint produced fatal asphyxia [8] [7].
6. The bottom line for the record and the public debate
The independent autopsy commissioned by George Floyd’s family described his cause of death as asphyxia due to sustained pressure on the neck and back and labeled the manner homicide; that conclusion was publicized by the family’s attorneys and reinforced the view that police restraint was the fatal mechanism even as the county’s autopsy used different technical language and noted additional contributing conditions [1] [2] [5].