Baton Rouge's first homicide of 2020 almost went undiscovered and unreported after detectives and death investigators made an incorrect assumption while processing the scene, overlooking the victim's gunshot wound and declaring his death an accidental drug overdose, our media partners at The Advocate report.
It was funeral home workers who uncovered the mistake while preparing the body the following day, the newspaper reports.
That prompted the coroner's office to reconsider their assessment and left homicide detectives scrambling to collect evidence. Now the family of Joah Ross is worried the investigation was compromised from the beginning, the Advocate reports.
To read The Advocate's full story, which includes interviews with Ross' family, click here.
