Chavis Carter's Death Ruled a Suicide

America's 'next Trayvon Martin' died in back of a police car
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2012 4:10 PM CDT

The man who could be America's next Trayvon Martin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the back of a police car, according to an autopsy report. The Arkansas crime lab report says Chavis Carter, 21, died from a gun muzzle pressed to his temple. Autopsy results, along with information from the Jonesboro police department, led medical examiners to call Carter's death a suicide, the AP reports.

"He was cuffed and placed into a police car, where apparently he produced a weapon, and despite being handcuffed, shot himself in the head," says the report. Police pulled over Carter last month and frisked him twice, finding a little marijuana but no gun. Officers say they put him in the backseat, handcuffed, and soon saw him slumped over in a pool of blood. But Carter's parents never believed it was suicide, noting he was left-handed but died from a bullet to his right temple. (More Chavis Carter stories.)

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