The autopsy of South Pasadena Police Officer Kevin Sandoval, 23--who died last week during a training exercise--has been completed, but the coroner's office says the security hold has not been lifted.
"Sheriff's homicide detectives have decided to put a security hold on it,'' Assistant Coroner Chief Ed Winter said Tuesday. "I don't know why."
Winter was present at the hospital last Tuesday where Sandoval died; his personal impression was that there was an underlying medical cause for the death. Final results from toxicology--which can take up to a month to complete--have not been returned, according to City News Service.
“Although witness accounts suggest that Officer Sandoval fell and hit his head during a training exercise, there were no signs of significant head trauma discovered by attending physicians or the medical examiner,” South Pasadena officials said in a press release Friday.
Police Chief Joseph Payne, as well as many of his close friends, say Officer Sandoval worked out regularly and was always in good physical condition.
A vigil and rosary are planned for the evening of Thursday, June 23, at Holy Family Church, with Mass planned the next day in Irwindale, followed by his burial in Covina.
