Published January 13, 2015
The pathologist who performed a third autopsy on the mayor-elect of Westlake, La., says he feels the death should have been investigated more thoroughly.
Cyril Wecht told Gerald Washington's wife and adult children that he feels investigators failed to pay enough attention to such matters as footprints, fingerprints and DNA traces.
Calcasieu Parish sheriff's investigators, the coroner and Louisiana State Police have all said Washington shot himself.
Wecht said he cannot rule that out — but also cannot rule out murder.
Washington died in December, days before he was to take office as the first black person elected mayor in his small, mainly white town.
Mary Washington and her adult children, Geroski and Geraldine Washington, have sued the sheriff's chief deputy, accusing him of negligence.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/pathologist-death-of-louisiana-towns-first-black-mayor-elect-needs-more-investigation