A forensic pathologist testified Thursday his death was caused by cocaine toxicity.Īccording to police testimony, two inmates told investigators that Kandaswamy admitted to ingesting “an eight ball” - slang for an eighth of an ounce - of cocaine while he and five other inmates were inside a holding cell. Kandaswamy’s death is one of several since 2018 that involved drug overdoses or the use of drugs in the Martinez jail. During the booking process, he began to have seizures, and died in an ambulance before officials took him to a local hospital. Karthik Kandaswamy, 26, was being booked on a misdemeanor battery charge after throwing a sandal at his father and punching a hole in the wall during a family dispute, police testified Thursday. MARTINEZ - A 26-year-old San Ramon man ingested an eighth of an ounce of cocaine, which caused him to have seizures and a fatal heart attack as he was being booked in the jail last November, officials testified at a Contra Costa County coroner’s inquest hearing Thursday morning.
Contra Costa man died after ingesting ‘8-ball’ of cocaine while being booked in jail, sheriff investigation found