Coroner: Death accidental

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Jul 10, 2009

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LIVINGSTON — The death of the man who died Sunday during a traffic stop in Livingston Parish could have been from cardiac arrhythmia, methamphetamines or a broken hyoid bone in his neck, the Livingston Parish coroner said Thursday afternoon in announcing the preliminary cause of death.

Click here to view that video.

Also Thursday, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office released the patrol-car video of the incident.

The coroner, Dr. Ron Coe, said the death of Donel Adam Stogner, 42, of Walker, was accidental. Coe said there were many factors in Stogner’s death and the investigation is not completed.

The preliminary findings of the Monday autopsy are that Stogner had methamphetamine in his system, suffered cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), and had severely hardened arteries, an enlarged heart and a broken hyoid bone in his neck, Coe said.

“When people ingest a large amount of a stimulant, such as meth, it can induce arrhythmia,” Coe said.

The fractured hyoid bone, located at the base of the tongue, indicates there was “some force applied to this region” that could have happened as the deputy tried to force Stogner to spit out a bag of a white substance he had put in his mouth, Coe said.

“I think the officer was trying to do his job,” Coe said.

The coroner declined to offer further details, such as whether the bag was found in Stogner’s throat. Coe said the full autopsy report will be released in the coming weeks.

During a news conference Thursday at the Livingston Parish Courthouse, Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Ard reiterated that he thinks Deputy Chris Sturdivant “did a textbook job” in attempting to arrest, subdue and then revive Stogner.

“We feel that the deputy was appropriate in his actions,” Ard said.

“It’s never easy when something like this happens,” Ard added. “We take it seriously.”

The video begins in silence with Sturdivant’s patrol car following behind Stogner’s pickup until Stogner pulls over on the shoulder of the interstate. While pulling Stogner over, the deputy calls in the license plate number to a dispatcher, a conversation that cannot be heard on the video.