ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Graham said he gave permission to federal investigators to get preliminary toxicology results on high-profile city and county leader Cora Faith Walker to help them "make decisions" about the direction of the case.
Walker, 37, collapsed in a hallway at the Live! By Loews Hotel in downtown St. Louis March 11 — the morning after attending a birthday party for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. She was also a top aide to St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and a former Missouri state representative.
Graham performed an autopsy on Walker three days after her death and said he wouldn't be able to determine her cause of death until a final toxicology report is done.
He told the I-Team Tuesday he gave the U.S. Attorney's office the authority to obtain preliminary toxicology results, "because it would affect how they would direct any of their activities, so we did let them talk to toxicology people for some preliminary information recognizing that sometimes decisions have to be made in a timely fashion based on preliminary information."
St. Louis Public Safety Director Dan Isom said Monday there is no local or federal investigation into Walker’s death, but said a St. Louis detective who is also a DEA task force officer has been “looking into” her death due to a multitude of rumors surrounding the circumstances of her death. He also confirmed warrants were served at the hotel to obtain surveillance footage.
Isom confirmed preliminary toxicology results were in, but would not disclose the results.
The I-Team has confirmed with multiple sources familiar with case that the preliminary results were negative for drugs.
Graham said he did not know the results of the preliminary findings because he did not have the conversation with the analysts, he only authorized that it take place.
“The preliminary doesn’t rule out much of anything, only because it’s not final,” Graham said. “(The results) usually don’t change much from the preliminary to the final, but every once in a while they do.
“You use (preliminary) information when you have to make timely decisions because it can help guide that. I thought it was a reasonable request and it could make a difference in how they move forward.”
Graham said he doesn’t expect to get the final toxicology results for weeks.
“We’re also waiting to look at tissues under a microscope, review medical records, we’re accumulating all of that information that has to be done.”
