Los Angeles County officials are taking a closer look at the case of Robert Fuller, the 24-year-old black man found hanging from a tree last week — after initially saying it appeared that his death was a suicide.
Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva announced Monday that the department’s homicide bureau will lead the investigation, which will be monitored by the California attorney general’s office and the FBI’s Civil Rights Division.
“They’re gonna stick to it ‘til they get to the truth of what happened,” Villanueva said at a press conference.
The county medical examiner-coroner’s office originally said Fuller appeared to have died by suicide, after he was discovered in a park near Palmdale City Hall early on June 10.
Officials noted that investigators only found rope and a backpack in the park, and nothing to indicate foul play.
But County Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Jonathan Lucas told reporters Monday that, despite the initial report, “we felt it prudent to roll that back and continue to look deeper.”
The briefing came amid outcry from Fuller’s family, who said he was not suicidal, and from community members, who called for an independent investigation and autopsy.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Palmdale over the weekend to demand attention for the case, and a petition calling for a thorough probe into Fuller’s death had more than 247,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
“Robert Fuller was a young man in the prime of his life and his death is obviously very painful to many people,” Villanueva said at the briefing.
“It is in our interest to make sure we leave no rock unturned.”
Homicide detectives plan to analyze the rope and its knot, canvass the area for video footage, interview Fuller’s social services case worker and speak to anyone who had recently interacted with him. They also want to meet with Fuller’s family.
The coroner’s office has completed an autopsy but is awaiting toxicology results, Lucas said. Officials will also look at Fuller’s medical history.
His death came amid nationwide anti-police brutality protests sparked by the cop-killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
It also followed the death of Malcolm Harsch — a 38-year-old black man found hanging from a tree on May 31 in Victorville, roughly 50 miles east of Palmdale.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said foul play was not suspected in the death of Harsch, but his family it concerned it will be ruled a suicide to dodge further attention.
Villanueva said his investigators will consult with San Bernardino detectives to see the deaths of the two men have any commonalities.
With Post wires