Rodney King Dead in Pool - More Details Emerge (VIDEO)
Rodney King, the man the L.A. riots surrounding police brutality centered upon, has been found dead Sunday morning at the bottom of his swimming pool. More details are now beginning to emerge.
Rodney King, 47, was stuck over 50 times by police following a chase during which King attempted to outrun cops because he had been drinking and driving.
King's fiancé, Cynthia Kelly, called 911 around 5:25 a.m. Police arrived on the scene in Rialto, California to find King at the bottom of the swimming pool. He was announced dead at a local hospital shortly after, according to Capt. Randy DeAnda, who spoke with CNN. While no signs of foul play were evident, police are conducting an investigation into King's possible drowning.
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King was beat by four white police officers when he was 25-years-old, after he had attempted to flee police. King, at the time on parole, had been drinking and feared that he would go back to prison if caught.
"His fiancee heard him in the rear yard," DeAnda told CNN, and found King in the pool when she went outside.
King's beating was caught on camera by an amateur camera man. King later accused the officers of using racial slurs as they beat him and used a stun gun.
"We are going to kill you, n***er," King told CNN in an earlier 2011 intereview, recalling the incident that had taken place in 1991.
The case brought attention to racially motivated police brutality. All four officers faced a jury, but were acquitted of all charges despite evidence of the beating on camera.
An infamous riot later broke out which resulted in 50 deaths and more than $1 billion in property damages. Several innocent bystanders were killed.
The officers later stood trail in federal court; two were convicted on civil rights charges and sentenced to 30 months in prison; the remaining two were acquitted. King successfully sued the city of Los Angeles and was compensated $3.8 million in damages.
