CONWAY, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Public Safety (DPS) released a statement Friday regarding the in-custody death of 26-year-old Deitric Williams in Conway on July 17.
According to DPS, an Arkansas State Crime Laboratory autopsy on Williams showed "no evidence of life-threatening inflicted injury or internal injury." The full autopsy report has not been released at this time.
Williams died due to "medical distress" after a domestic disturbance call turned into an on-foot pursuit with Conway police.
Authorities said Williams was allegedly "fighting inside a vehicle" with a woman around 11:44 a.m. on Monday in the parking lot of the McDonald's on Oak Street when authorities were called to the scene.
Conway police asked Williams for identification, prompting the man to search his car. When Williams allegedly did not comply with exiting the vehicle, he was pulled out and started running.
According to Conway Police Department, Williams led officers on a foot chase until he was taken into custody behind a residence on Gum Street.
Once in custody, police said he "began to exhibit signs of medical distress."
Williams died at a local area hospital around 4:18 p.m.
The Conway Police Department also said that family members of Williams will be able to view the body camera footage of his death to "dispel further misinformation from circulating."
We've looked into the use of force and duty to intervene policies for Conway police, and we have them linked both here and here.
THV11 has requested any information on either incident, including body cam video. We've been told that information cannot be released pending the conclusion of the ASP investigation.
We also reached out to the City of Conway but were told they won't comment during ASP's investigation.