CINCINNATI — Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco released preliminary information on the autopsy of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, shot to death on May 1 by a Cincinnati police officer.
Sammarco said Ryan had three gunshot wounds — though she couldn't say whether two of those gunshot wounds were caused by the same bullet or not.
One gunshot wound was through his left forearm, and only damaged soft tissue in his arm, Sammarco said.
Another gunshot wound was found in his left side, under his armpit. That wound was what killed him, Sammarco said. That bullet traveled through his chest, hit the seventh rib, went through the left ventricle of his heart and exited through his sternum, according to the coroner.
A third gunshot wound was found in his right "postero-lateral chest" adjacent to his shoulder, Sammarco said. That bullet traveled beneath the skin and only damaged soft tissue; Sammarco said that bullet came to stop just beneath the base of the skull, and the coroner's office was able to retrieve it.
She said it is possible the bullet that went through Ryan's arm also went into and through his side, but she said the coroner's office can't say for sure if that's the case, since that bullet was not found by her office. She said they only found fragments of that bullet in Ryan's body.
Ryan was not shot in the back, Sammarco said.
See more about the preliminary information from the autopsy in the video below:
When asked how the bullet that entered near Ryan's shoulder could have hit him, Sammarco declined to comment on any body camera footage or speculation surrounding it.
"You're going to have to talk to someone about that," she said. "I cannot comment on what position his body was in at the time."
She said her office also cannot determine the order in which the gunshot wounds were inflicted.
Sammarco said Ryan's family has also been informed of her office's findings, and the family ordered an independent autopsy to be conducted.
An attorney for Ryan's family said they have asked for an independent autopsy, but their expert is waiting on additional information from Sammarco's office to complete their findings.
"We are eager to complete our independent autopsy and will share that publicly as soon as we receive the information we have already requested," reads the statement from The Cochran Firm. "At first glance, it appears that the information provided by Cincinnati's police chief during her press conference on May 2 is inconsistent with what the Hamilton County coroner presented today."
When she showed the public body camera footage one day after the shooting, on May 2, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said the Cincinnati police officer who shot Ryan fired roughly four to five shots; Ryan was hit by two of those bullets. Theetge said he was hit once in the chest, with the bullet exiting his back and once in the arm, but that bullet went through his arm and into his side.
Sammarco said she isn't sure exactly where Theetge got that information, though she said police could have been present for the autopsy, which was conducted on May 2.
"This is why I ask that we provide the autopsy findings from our office," said Sammarco. "So that you get the real facts. And how that was communicated to the police, I don't know."
RELATED: What we know about the deaths of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton and deputy Larry Henderson
The full coroner's office autopsy on Ryan Hinton is not ready to be released yet; Sammarco said her office is still waiting on test results, and won't release that information until their full investigation is complete.
Sammarco said she wanted to release information about Ryan's death to help ease grief and provide the full facts.
"I think in my 13 years of being in the office, being transparent with the public and the media with what we find and what we have found has been something that we routinely do, and that's part of what I've done in the office, is I want to be transparent," said Sammarco. "I think you have a right to know, and I think the family has a right to know and so we wanted to present you with the actual facts and not have conjecture out there."
Last week Sammarco's office sent an email canceling a press conference for Friday, citing a grand jury subpoena; on Monday, Sammarco said in her 13 years as the Hamilton County coroner, she has never received a grand jury subpoena, so she wasn't sure what it entailed.
"As many of you know Dr. Sammarco had planned to hold a press conference (Friday) at 9 a.m. to discuss the autopsy findings on Ryan Hinton," the email from chief administrator Andrea Hatten reads. "[Thursday] we received a Grand Jury Subpoena preventing (the coroner from) discussing investigation details."
A spokesperson for the Hamilton County prosecutor's office would not confirm if a grand jury investigation is underway. In a statement, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said this is the normal procedure.
"We want a complete and thorough investigation in which we gather all of the information before reaching a decision on how to move forward," a statement from Pillich read.
You can watch the coroner's full press conference below:
