Autopsy

Prosecutors crafting the cases against the teenagers charged with killing a 14-year-old Crofton boy will have to show a direct connection between the beating of Christopher David Jones and his fall while riding his bicycle shortly afterward, criminal defense lawyers said on Tuesday. Details that could make those links will not be in place for weeks, authorities said. The complete autopsy report probably will not be available for a month, police said. It is expected to shed light on the nature of Jones' injuries, first allegedly at the hands of his attackers, and then as he fell and hit his head when pedaling away.

The opening scene of Patricia D. Cornwell's fourth novel, "Cruel & Unusual," is memorably macabre. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's chief medical examiner, is getting ready to do an autopsy -- labeling blood tubes, donning her plastic apron and rubber gloves. What distinguishes these particular preparations is that her subject is still alive.Dr. Scarpetta is awaiting the arrival of Ronnie Joe Waddell, who is about to be put to death in the electric chair. A decade ago, Waddell murdered Robyn Naismith, a beautiful television anchorwoman; after exhausting his appeals, only a call from the governor can spare his life.

County police are awaiting an autopsy report to determine the cause of death of a Pasadena man, who was found dead in his burning car Thursday night outside Curtis Bay Athletic Club.Samuel Riedel Jr., 47, of the 1800 block of Cremen Road was pronounced dead at North Arundel Hospital shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday. County police have called his death "suspicious."A friend of Mr. Riedel, Vincent Bramble, whose address and age were not given by police, noticed him sitting in his car shortly after 5 p.m. About 9:45 p.m., Mr. Riedel's mother became concerned and phoned his friends.

An autopsy on Terri Schiavo found that she had massive, irreversible brain damage, a Florida medical examiner's office said yesterday in a report that gave scientific support to her husband's decision to withdraw her feeding tube. But for Schiavo's parents and others, the findings didn't end the ethical or medical debate that eventually drew in Congress and the White House. Bob and Mary Schindler still say that their daughter would not have wanted her life ended and that she was not in a persistent vegetative state, their lawyer, David Gibbs III, said.

Final autopsy results on Mervo student Derrick White reveal the cause of his death -- drowning -- but raise even more questions about how he died.Baltimore police had reported that Derrick apparently hit his head on the lip of the pool at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School while he was trying to lift himself out and that he then slipped under the water, where he remained until pulled out by an instructor with the aid of two other students.But...

City police today were awaiting an autopsy on the body of a 1-year-old baby who was found unconscious and not breathing in her East Baltimore home.Shanikqua Johnson, of the 800 block of McKim St., was pronounced dead on arrival at Johns Hopkins Hospital shortly after 2 a.m., Homicide Detective Michael Crutchfield said.City paramedics called to the house by the child's mother, Cheryl Smith, 22, found the infant in a bed.The medics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation while they transported the infant to the hospital.

Authorities are investigating last night's death of a 25-year-old Ellicott City man who collapsed at his family home moments after he was seen behaving strangely on the street outside, county police said.James Collins of the 3700 block of St. Paul St., was pronounced dead at his home shortly after 7 p.m.Foul play is not suspected, and police said they found no external signs of injury.Family members said Mr. Collins was outside running and yelling when he re-entered the house and collapsed.

An autopsy was to be performed today on an Anne Arundel County woman who died after her car crashed into a guardrail on Interstate 695 near Catonsville yesterday afternoon, state police said. Lorraine Mary Mariano, 52, of the 400 block of Susan Court in Linthicum was driving a 2004 Nissan Sentra on the inner loop near Wilkens Avenue about 1:10 p.m. when she suddenly slumped over the steering wheel, witnesses told police. Mariano was the sole occupant of the car. The car went onto the shoulder, up a grassy embankment, back down the embankment and struck a barrier wall before crashing head-on into a partially buried guardrail, police said.

An autopsy today or tomorrow could help Baltimore County police identify a decomposed body found Friday afternoon in Randallstown.Police have released no information about the sex, race or age of thebody. They said the autopsy should help answer those questions, as well as help determine the cause and time of death."We don't know if it was suicide, homicide or natural causes," Sgt. John Cullum, of the Baltimore County Police Department, said yesterday.The body was found in a wooded area by children walking from one shopping center to another in the 8600 block of Liberty Road at 4:40 p.m. Friday, Baltimore County homicide Detective Milton Duckworth said.