Fan’s fatal fall at Turner Field ruled suicide

A baseball fan fell from the upper deck at Turner Field stadium (near the red sign at the top of a stairwell at far left) near the edge of the player's parking lot (bottom left) during the game last night as fans begin to arrive for today's game at Turner Field on Tuesday Aug. 13, 2013 in Atlanta.

Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC

Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC

A baseball fan fell from the upper deck at Turner Field stadium (near the red sign at the top of a stairwell at far left) near the edge of the player's parking lot (bottom left) during the game last night as fans begin to arrive for today's game at Turner Field on Tuesday Aug. 13, 2013 in Atlanta.

A 30-year-old Rockdale County man committed suicide when he fell 85 feet to his death last month at Turner Field, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Ronald Lee Homer Jr., of Conyers, was attending an Atlanta Braves game with friends Aug. 12 when he fell from the fourth level of the stadium, landing on concrete in the players' parking lot. Homer was unconscious and not breathing when emergency responders reached him, Atlanta police previously said. He was taken to Atlanta Medical Center, where he later died.

The day after Homer's fall, investigators called the death accidental. But his family questioned what caused the 6-foot-6 Homer to fall over the 42-inch-tall railing at the stadium.

Toxicology reports indicate that Homer had alcohol in his system at the time of his death, an investigator with the medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled a suicide, but the medical examiner’s office would release no further details on the autopsy findings Thursday or why they pointed to suicide. The cause of his death was previously reported as “blunt force trauma.”

An avid Braves fan, Homer frequently attended games and may have gone to smoke a cigarette during a rain delay before falling, his family said. Witnesses told police that no one was standing near Homer at the time he fell, but his family speculated he may have slipped on wet pavement, possibly leaning too far over the railing while looking down at the players’ lot below.

A message left for Homer’s family was not returned Thursday afternoon.