Sickle cell may have contributed to death of "Housewives" cast member

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The doctor who performed the autopsy on Ashley "A.J." Jewell said sickle cell anemia may have contributed to the death of  the ex-fiancee of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast member Kandi Burruss.

Jewell, 34, died Oct. 2 after getting into a fight with Body Tap employee Frederick Richardson in the strip club's parking lot. Richardson is being held without bond, charged with voluntary manslaughter.

Kelly Rose with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office stressed the results are preliminary and a conclusion won't be reached until next week at the earliest.

"There were some findings that were suggestive [of sickle cell]," Rose said. Investigators have learned that sickle cell runs in Jewell's family, though he may not have been aware he had the disease.

The disorder, which strikes mostly African-Americans, decreases the red blood cells' flexibility and carries a risk of various medical complications.  The average life expectancy of males with the disease is 42.

Jewell might not have been able to replenish the oxygen used up in the fight with Richardson, Rose said.

"That's what happens with these sudden deaths," she said.

Over the past decade at least 12 college athletes who had the disease died after overexerting themselves during practice or competition.

Atlanta Police said Jewell sustained a hard blow to the head and was beaten to death. At Richardson's last hearing his attorney, Dennis Scheib, argued unsuccessfully that, without a cause of death, there is nothing to support a voluntary manslaughter charge.

"The cause of death is unknown," Scheib said during the brief first appearance hearing. "To sustain a charge like that... there has to be a cause of death."