A Pulaski County coroner’s report released Wednesday afternoon for 17-year-old Hunter Brittain, who was shot by a Lonoke County sheriff's deputy in June, states that the teen died of gunshot wounds in his neck and arm.
The report states the initial 911 call came in at 3:08 a.m. June 23, and Brittain was pronounced dead around 3:58 a.m. by an attending physician at Baptist Medical Center in North Little Rock.
[DOCUMENT: Coroner’s report for Noah Hunter Brittain » arkansasonline.com/coronerbrittain]
The report states that a sergeant with the Lonoke County sheriff’s office — who has been identified as Michael Davis — conducted a traffic stop at Arkansas 89 and Tower Road. The report adds that “the decedent,” Brittain, got out of the vehicle, “got something out of the back,” and was approaching the sergeant when the deputy fired his weapon.
According to a statement previously released by the Brittain family’s attorney, the teen exited his truck to place a blue plastic bottle of antifreeze behind a wheel because the vehicle wouldn’t shift into park. Brittain was up late working on the vehicle’s transmission before taking the test drive, his family has said.
The family has maintained that Brittain was shot three times by Davis.
The coroner’s report does not specify how many times Brittain was shot, but it does list the immediate cause and manner of death as “gunshot wound of neck and arm.”
There were no indications of drug and alcohol use, according to the coroner’s report. The report was first requested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on July 8.
Davis was fired by Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley a week after the shooting for breaking a policy requiring that body cameras be turned on before deputies interact with the public. Details about when the camera was turned on and what the footage captured is unknown to the public, as requests for the footage have been denied.
Arkansas State Police investigated Davis’ use of deadly force and turned over their findings to Jeff Phillips, who was named special prosecutor for the case July 12.
Phillips received the investigative file on July 15, according to an email from the prosecutor coordinating office. He has not responded to numerous emails by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette requesting updates on the investigation. The last request was sent Tuesday.