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Coroner's Jury Rules Death of Knox College Student Accidental
FIRST REPORTED 8:00am 1/30/13 The death of a Knox College junior in October was ruled an accident by a coroner's jury.

Tundun Lawani was hit by a car near the Knox College campus in October of 2012. Both Lawani and the driver, 33 year old Lakeesha Smith had alcohol in their systems, according to Knox County Coroner Mark Thomas.

Thomas described Lawani's injuries to the jury as being due to multiple lacerations and fractures.

"[Lawani] had a blood alcohol level of .077," Thomas said. "She had no other detectable levels of drugs or toxic compounds that were identified. It's the opinion of the forensic pathologist the cause of death was due to multiple injuries due to an automobile striking a pedestrian."

Smith, the driver, pleaded not guilty to the charges of reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident involving death, and aggravated driving under the influence in October and will be back in court February fourth for a pre-trial conference.

Jurors at a coroner's inquest Tuesday night deliberated for less than 10 minutes in the case and asked only one question about the nature of Smith being in the street preceding the incident.

The jury concluded that the cause of her death was an accident due to multiple injuries.
01 30 13 by Newsroom
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