The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020.
The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner’s office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation."
Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said.
At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to AL.com.