Rodney King: Investigation opened into drowning
Rodney King at a press conference in Beverly Hills on May 1, 1992, where he called for an end to violence in the city.
Police are investigating the death of Rodney King, the survivor of a brutal beating by the LAPD in 1991, as a drowning, said ABC News.
King, 47, was outside the house for most of the night, his fiancée Cynthia Kelly told Rialto Police Capt. Randy De Anda.
De Anda said, "[Kelly] was inside the residence, had been sleeping and Mr. King had been carrying conversations with her from the rear patio poolside," according to ABC News. "She had heard him speaking to her. She got up to go outside to talk with him, at which time she found him at the bottom of the pool."
The Los Angeles Times reported that Kelly called 911 at 5:25 a.m. after finding King at the bottom of his pool, according to Sgt. Paul Stella. King was pulled from the pool by officers and CPR was administered until paramedics arrived, taking King to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Stella said King was pronounced dead at the hospital at 6:11 a.m., according to The LA Times.
"Preliminary information indicates this is a drowning," Stella said. "There were no signs of foul play."
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The Detroit Free Press reported that an autopsy will be conducted in the next 48 hours, and investigators will await the results to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved in King's drowning. De Anda said there were no signs of alcohol or drugs near the pool.
A neighbor of King's said that around 3 a.m. she heard music and people talking. "It seemed like someone was really crying, like really deep emotions," Sandra Gardea said, according to the Detroit Free Press. "And it just got louder and louder. Everybody woke up. Even the kids woke up."
"I heard someone say, 'OK, Please stop. Go inside the house.' … We heard quiet for a few minutes. Then after that we heard a splash in the back. And that's when a few minutes later we see the cops arrive and everyone arrive and we see him being taken in a gurney," Gardea said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
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