ME's Report Raises Questions Of Man's Death In Warner Police Custody

A 911 call and the medical examiner’s report involving a man who died after an arrest in April have both been released.

The Muskogee County District Attorney's Office said the ME's report raises new questions about the way 33-year-old Cody Lynch died near Warner and has asked the state bureau of investigation to look into it.

The ME's report listed several factors associated with Lynch's death including - he was lying down, one to three officers were on him trying to subdue him, Lynch's acute intoxication by meth and his cardiovascular disease.

7/27/2015 Related Story: ME: Man In Warner Police Custody Died From Asphyxiation

The ME also noted Lynch had Taser burns on his stomach and several blunt impact injuries.

The 911 call went out on April 3rd around 11 p.m. as a traffic accident near Warner, but when Officer Michael Shamblin arrived, it was not an accident, but a driver acting up in the road.

"5506, be advised, I have a report of a vehicle accident north of Warner, show me in route," you can hear. "Suspicious driver. Might be DUI."

OSBI said the driver, Lynch, attacked Shamblin and broke his eye socket.

Shamblin's attorney said the two men went into a ditch fighting for more than ten minutes with Lynch's own father yelling for his son to stop fighting.

The attorney said Shamblin couldn't radio for help, so yelled to people nearby that someone needed to call 911 or that he was going to have to shoot Lynch; so a woman dialed and held the phone toward the officer.

Dispatch: "Muskogee 911, you need police, fire or medical?"
Officer: "5506. I'm having trouble calling. I need someone here now."
Dispatch: "Okay, north of Warner?"
Officer: "Highway 153. 5506. I'm Warner PD. I need help now."
Dispatch: "Okay, we've got ‘em on the way."

His attorney said, at some point, Shamblin did tase Lynch, and when backup arrived, those officers helped subdue Lynch and, not long after that, a call went out for an ambulance.

Officer: "5134, We need EMS out here."
Dispatch: "10-4."
Officer: "5134 Also, you may want to notify OHP, we've got an injury now."
Dispatch: "10-4."
Officer: "Tell EMS to step it up, it's full arrest."
Officer: "We're going to need another EMS unit for 5506. He needs to be checked out."
Dispatch: "10-4."

Lynch didn't make it and the case has been pending, awaiting the ME's report.

His cause of death is listed as a homicide and the DA must decide whether it was justified.

One of Cody's friends posted online, "if a kid is drunk and having fun, it's okay to kill him. He had no weapons, he didn't use deadly force.”

She posted she hopes the truth comes out and that there is justice for Cody.

The Muskogee County DA said he plans to rule on the case within 30 days.