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Jamie Cail competes in the Phillips 66 National Championship held at Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
The V.I. Dept. of Justice, Office of the Medical Examiner has concluded that Jamie Cail’s death was accidental due to fentanyl intoxication. The confirmation follows an autopsy performed on the body of the former U.S. swimming champion.
In February, Ms. Cail was reportedly discovered by her boyfriend, unresponsive on the floor of her bedroom. She succumbed some time after being transported to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic on St. John, where medical staffers tried and failed to resuscitate her.
Ms. Cail’s family and friends were frustrated when no autopsy results were forthcoming. In March, VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte would only say that police were “anxiously awaiting” the autopsy results, like everyone else.
Over 5 months later, authorities have concluded that Ms. Cail died from “fentanyl intoxication with aspiration of gastric content,” meaning that fluids or particles from her stomach entered into her windpipe or lungs.
Fentanyl has been identified as a growing threat in the territory, just as it is on certain parts of the mainland. In March, 35-year old St. Thomas resident Elijah Hakim was sentenced to 85 months in prison, after being found guilty of conspiring to possess and distribute fentanyl. He had reportedly asked his girlfriend to mail a package containing fentanyl pills from Georgia to St. Thomas, but the parcel was intercepted by Customs and Border Protection officers in Puerto Rico. Hakim is the first man tried on fentanyl charges in the territory.
