INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 30-year-old man found dead in the woods in April died from combined drug toxicity and had traces of narcotics, including fentanyl, in his system, reports show.
The District 19 Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Pierce ruled the death of Jamaal Metu as accidental in an autopsy report, completed June 28. Metu’s toxicology report showed he had traces of cocaine and fentanyl in his body.
There were no signs of trauma to Metu’s body, according to medical examiners and Indian River County sheriff’s deputies. Deputies previously said they located drugs when they responded to reports of a body found in a wooded area about 4 p.m. April 18 in the 3100 block of 45th Street, across the street from Smith’s Grocery Store.
Deputies initially said they thought Metu, described as homeless, died from a possible overdose. Deputies put up crime scene tape around the area as the medical examiner arrived to remove Metu’s body.
Sheriff’s Detective Michael Dilks previously said the area where Metu’s body was found was frequented often by the homeless as a place to sleep and use drugs. Dilks said Metu worked at a car wash on the corner of 28th Court and 45th Street.
Dilks also said Metu was known to deputies as a drug user.
