LIMA, OH (WLIO) - It was the third day in the trial for a Lima man charged in a 2020 murder.
Lucas County Coroner Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett took the stand to reveal the autopsy findings for 25-year-old McKenzie Butler, Melvin Boothe's girlfriend whose body was found buried in a suitcase in a Lima city park. The official cause of death was homicide by unspecified means. While the circumstances surrounding the scene ruled it a homicide, there were no visible wounds and x-ray results did not reveal a cause. The coroner says findings in the temporal bone, which are located at the sides and the base of the skull may indicate a drowning, but there is not enough evidence to prove it.
"I wouldn't be able to tell if McKenzie was drowned prior to her going into the grave. It wouldn't leave any marks, drowning. It's merely breathing in water," explained Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett, Lucas county coroner.
Dr. Scala-Barnett says this is the first time she rendered a test that did not reveal an exact cause of death, and unspecified causes are rare. She says that they only happen two percent of the time. The trial will continue on Thursday.
