In an upper corner of Turner Field, an avid Braves fan climbed over the railing, one leg at a time, and jumped feet-first to his death, a witness told the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Ronald Lee Homer Jr., 30, of Conyers, died Aug. 12 after landing in a parking lot 85 feet below. Although his family said the death was accidental, last month Homer's death was ruled a suicide, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The autopsy report, released Tuesday to The AJC, details the findings that led to the medical examiner's ruling.
“The departure railing was not in an area typically accessed by visitors to the ball park, and the decedent made a conscious decision to go there without his friends,” Dr. Michele Stauffenberg wrote in the report. “Therefore, it is unlikely the decedent was deceived as to the danger of this act.”
Homer knew about a man’s fatal fall at Turner Field in 2008 and had talked about it with a friend, according to the autopsy report. A friend also told investigators he believed Homer had been suicidal.
Toxicology tests indicate that Homer’s blood alcohol level was approximately twice the legal limit, but not believed to have played a role in his death, according to the medical examiner.
“Alcohol intoxication may have played a role in his behavior and decision-making process, but not in making him unsteady near a dangerous railing,” the report states.
After his fall, Homer was transported to Atlanta Medical Center, where he died from blunt force trauma to his torso and lower extremities. A moment of silence was held for him the following night at Turner Field.
A 2001 graduate of Rockdale County High School, Homer played football, basketball and baseball before earning an academic scholarship to Oxford College of Emory University.
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