The death of a Black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, California, last month has been ruled a suicide, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
“Investigators have met with the coroner’s office and discussed the final results,” sheriff’s department Cmdr. Chris Marks said during a news conference. “Just this afternoon, the medical examiner issued their final autopsy report and delivered it to the sheriff’s department and deemed this case to be a suicide.”
According to CNN, Fuller, 24, bought the rope at a Dollar Tree store on May 14, and the same rope was tied directly to the branches of the tree in which he was found, “indicating that the victim was not hoisted into that position,” Marks said.
Specifically, Marks said when authorities discovered Robert Fuller’s body on June 10 there were signs of neither a struggle nor any attempts to remove the rope from his neck, CNN reported.
The ruling followed a “thorough” investigation alongside the California Department of Justice and the FBI, sheriff’s officials said during the news conference.
Fuller’s family has requested an independent autopsy, and a statement on the Facebook page of the attorney representing the family states results are pending, KNBC reported.