The Fulton County Medical Examiner conducted a comprehensive post-mortem examination to establish the precise cause and manner of death. The official autopsy determined that Dayvon Daquan Bennett died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, ruling the death a homicide. The examination revealed that bullets struck vital organs, causing catastrophic internal hemorrhaging that surgical units could not reverse.
Ballistics and toxicology assessments form standard components of an urban shooting autopsy. Toxicological screening verified the chemical baseline of the victim, while forensic pathologists tracked entry and exit trajectories. The examination showed Bennett sustained impacts from close-to-intermediate range, consistent with the surveillance video depicting the shooter emerging from an adjacent vehicle and firing immediately as the physical fight unfolded.
Pathologists documented standard clinical intervention marks, including surgical thoracotomy incisions, suture lines, and chest tube insertion points resulting from Grady Hospital’s trauma team's emergency resuscitation efforts. Crucially, these clinical marks later became central to debunking false internet claims regarding the leaked photographs, proving the leaked imagery was captured after clinical interventions rather than during the state's initial forensic autopsy.
