Independent autupsy next step in death probe of Jackson man

With completion of the state’s autopsy of Belhaven Heights resident Dau Mabil, showing death by drowning of unknown cause, his brother can move forward with getting a second independent  autopsy he fought to obtain. 

Bailey Martin, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, said in an email the autopsy can be conducted without delay, impairment or interference now that Capitol Police’s investigation is closed. 

“The family is awaiting results of an independent autopsy and they will move forward from there,” said Lisa Ross, a Jackson attorney representing Mabil’s brother, Bul. 

She said the goal is to have the autopsy completed so that Mabil can have a proper burial. 

A May court order set the terms for a second autopsy, including that Dau Mabil’s body would be stored by the State Medical Examiner’s Office until investigations are complete. 

Ross said the names of two forensic pathologists have been shared with Dau Mabil’s widow, Karissa Bowley. In court, she asked for guardrails for the independent autopsy, including a requirement that the examiner be qualified. 

Bowley was not immediately available for comment Friday. 

Dau Mabil, along with his brother, came to Jackson in 2000 as one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” boys who had fled war and genocide in their country. Bul Mabil said his brother was born in 1990, but the autopsy report states his age as 37.

Karissa Bowley holds a photo of her missing husband, Dau Mabil, during a press conference about his disappearance in Jackson, Miss., on Monday, April 1, 2024. Credit: Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

Dau Mabil was last seen March 25 in the Belhaven area after going on a walk without his phone, according to his wife. Video footage showed him near Jefferson Street and Fortification and High streets, and Bowley said he went to check on corn he planted near the Museum Trail. 

Bowley and community members began search efforts. Bul Mabil traveled from out of state and joined Bowley and others at an early April press conference to call for answers about Dau’s whereabouts.

Three weeks later, a fisherman reported a body floating in the Pearl River near Lawrence County, and a preliminary autopsy revealed that it was the body of Mabil. The Lawrence County sheriff said there was no evidence of foul play. 

Bul Mabil and other family members have questioned if that is true. The day his brother’s body was recovered, he sought an emergency restraining order against Bowley, Capitol Police and the state Crime Lab to preserve Dau’s body for a state autopsy and an independent one. 

Several weeks later in May, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas removed Bul Mabil from the lawsuit, but Bowley said in court and in filings that she would allow a second autopsy. In his order, Thomas stipulated that a second autopsy would be done at Bul Mabil’s “direction and expense.” 

Last week, Bowley released the state’s five-page autopsy report that listed Mabil’s cause of death as drowning and the manner of death as undetermined. The report notes that there were no internal or external signs of trauma or injury that could account for his death. 

Postmortem toxicology analysis of liver tissue and decomposition fluid found the presence of ethanol. 

An accompanying toxicology report noted that ethanol – also known as ethyl alcohol or drinking alcohol – can be a central nervous system depressant that can cause impaired judgment, reduced alertness and impaired coordination. Ethanol also can be a product of decomposition, the report notes. 

A week before the autopsy results were released, the Bowley family and Mabil family and supporters spoke in separate press conferences. 

The Bowleys dismissed allegations and implications that his widow or family had anything to do with Mabil’s disappearance, which Ross had implied during her questioning of Karissa Bowley during an April court hearing on the restraining order. 

Bul Mabil was joined by his and Dau’s mother, who had traveled from Africa, along with Sudanese family, friends and community members. Bul Mabil still believes someone killed his brother, and he criticsized Capitol Police for how it handled his case, local media reported. 

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