The Latest: Cornell’s full autopsy, other tests pending
DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on the death of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell (all times local):
4:10 p.m.
An official says the results of a full autopsy and toxicology tests in the death of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell could take days before they are completed and released.
Lisa Croff, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, said Friday that the office would have no new information on Cornell’s death this weekend.
The medical examiner’s preliminary determination was that Cornell hanged himself. He was found unresponsive in his hotel room early Thursday following a Soundgarden concert in Detroit.
According to the Detroit News, a police report says Cornell’s bodyguard gave him two prescription pills for anxiety after the concert. The bodyguard later found Cornell on the bathroom floor of his room with an exercise band around his neck.
In a statement, Cornell’s wife said the family believes that if he did take his life, “he did not know what he was doing, and that drugs or other substances may have affected his actions.”
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Flowers sit on a bench at the Sound Garden sculpture, for which
the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle’s Magnuson Park in
tribute to Chris Cornell, Thursday, May 18, 2017. The sculpture
features vertical, organ-like pipes that make sounds depending
upon wind direction and speed, and overlooks Lake Washington.
Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead
singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave,
hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to
the city’s medical examiner. He was 52. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
1:45 p.m.
A newspaper is reporting that a Detroit police report says a bodyguard gave singer Chris Cornell two prescription pills for anxiety about an hour before finding him unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a hotel room.
The Detroit News reports (http://detne.ws/2qBJKdJ ) reports Friday that it obtained the police report but doesn’t say how. Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Moreno says the department isn’t commenting.
The local medical examiner says initial autopsy results indicate Cornell hanged himself after performing with his band Soundgarden on Wednesday night. Cornell’s family disputes the finding, saying they’re awaiting toxicology tests. A family attorney says Cornell had a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug Ativan.
The police report says Cornell’s bodyguard found him around 12:15 a.m. Thursday, after kicking in the locked door to his suite. The report says the musician had an exercise band around his neck.
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5 a.m.
The family of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is disputing “inferences that Chris knowingly and intentionally” killed himself.
The family said in a statement that without toxicology tests completed, they can’t be sure what led to his death, or if any substances were involved. According to lawyer Kirk Pasich, Cornell had a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug Ativan, which he said has various side effects.
The musician was found dead in his Detroit hotel room Wednesday after performing at a concert.
Chris Cornell, left, and Vicky Karayiannis arrive at the U.S.
premiere of “The Promise” at the TCL Chinese Theatre on
Wednesday, April 12, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris
Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Cornell’s wife, Vicky Cornell, said in the statement that when she spoke to her husband after the Detroit show, he told her he may have taken “an extra Ativan or two” and was slurring his words.
The medical examiner in Detroit said Cornell hanged himself. Police told two Detroit newspapers the singer was found with a band around his neck.
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