Medical Examiner Changes Manner Of 18-Year-Old’s Death To 'Pending'

On June 16, at 2:28 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call about an 18-year-old male found unresponsive in the swimming pool of a private residence. An incident report states that deputies arrived at the home and found Deer Creek firefighters administering CPR to Amuda, with EMSA arriving later and assisting firefighters in attempting to revive the teenager. He was pronounced dead at 3:11 a.m.

According to the homeowner, he was in bed when his daughter came in and told him that a boy was in their pool. He told a Sheriff’s Office official that he went outside and found that individuals at the home pulled the victim out of the water and laid him on the deck next to the deep end of the pool. The homeowner said he performed CPR on the victim until Deer Creek firefighters came and took over.

The homeowner went on to tell Lt. W. Fretz the house is equipped with cameras, but that the cameras had not worked in about two years.

Fretz said he walked around the backyard and found two empty beer cans on the hot tub, a small plastic empty vodka bottle and an empty Jell-O package on the ground next to the patio kitchen. He also found at least three areas around the pool where it appeared someone had vomited.

“I asked [him] if anyone here was drinking and if there was any alcohol here and he stated not to his knowledge,” Fretz said in the police report.

Now, after outrage surrounding this incident being ruled as an accident, investigators are looking into whether foul play could have led to Amuda’s death.

“I understand the community’s frustration, but it’s important for our investigators to make sure this is done properly,” Aaron Brillbeck, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said. “His family deserves answers, the community deserves answers; we have to make sure we do this properly. Only we can do the investigation. We’re still gathering evidence. We’re still gathering information. We don’t want to put anything out before we know it’s 100 percent factual.””