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The teen’s body was found after being retrieved from a Texas lake, four days after he was last seen at his home.
An autopsy conducted by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences on behalf of the Dallas County Medical Examiner has revealed that Daniel Erving died from an accidental drowning.
According to ABC News, the report states that once Erving “became submerged and didn’t resurface, the other two individuals disposed of the decedent’s belongings and failed to report the incident to authorities, leading to the decedent not being found for four days.”
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Despite mentioning that police interviewed two individuals who have since been charged with tampering with evidence, the autopsy does not suspect foul play was involved in Erving’s death.
“Despite initial suspicions, there are no current suspicions of foul play,” the report says. “Should further information come to light in the future, the cause and/or manner of death may be amended.”
The news of the autopsy comes as Erving’s family continues to raise doubts about the events leading up to his death. Erving was with 19-year-old Lucas Roper and a 17-year-old juvenile when he reportedly jumped into Lake Ray Hubbard and surfaced once before calling for help. He was submerged again and did not come up. Despite ABC News’s report, Erving’s family argues that he was a member of the swim team.
After Erving drowned, Roper and the juvenile left in Roper’s vehicle. According to police, the two threw Erving’s clothes and his cell phone out of the vehicle. Both have been charged with evidence tampering. During an interview with police, Roper admitted that he “panicked” after Erving drowned and later deleted all communications with Erving because he “was aware that there would be an investigation into Daniel Erving’s death and he did not want to get into trouble.”
“A reasonable-minded person would know, if you are not guilty of a crime, why would you throw away his clothes and delete messages and not even call his mother?” Erving’s mother, Tameca Erving, said during a press conference on July 13, three months to the day her son was last seen at his home. “I want justice for my son. I want justice for Daniel.”
The Erving’s family attorney, Sean Daredia, echoed Tameca’s sentiments regarding her son.
“Daniel Erving was an honor roll student. He was a member of his swim team. He was a strong, healthy young athlete,” Daredia said at a news conference earlier this month. “For these two suspects to say he drowned and they left. It doesn’t add up; something smells off to us.”
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