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Death of Would-Be Rapist in Bronx Ruled a Homicide

By Eddie Small | August 29, 2016 12:40pm
 The death of Earl Nash (right), who was beaten by Mamadou Diallo (left) after attacking his wife, has been ruled a homicide, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.
The death of Earl Nash (right), who was beaten by Mamadou Diallo (left) after attacking his wife, has been ruled a homicide, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.
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Family Handout and Department of Corrections

SOUTH BRONX — Heart disease and a cocaine overdose were contributing factors in the death of a man beaten by the husband of a woman he's accused of trying to rape, according to an autopsy report from the Medical Examiner's Office.

Earl Nash was fatally attacked by Mamadou Diallo, whose wife called for help after Nash tried to rape her in the couple's Washington Avenue apartment in late May, the NYPD said.

Police arrested Diallo on manslaughter, but the Bronx District Attorney’s Office then downgraded his charges to assault, pending what the ME found.

This became a sore point at Diallo's last court appearance on Aug. 10, when his attorney Anthony Michaels referred to the more than two-month wait as a case of "justice delayed, justice denied."

The Medical Examiner's Office described Nash's death as a complex case that required extensive medical testing and information from police. On Friday, the office certified that the manner of death was a homicide and that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, cocaine intoxication and cardiovascular disease.

Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's Office, stressed that this ruling did not imply anything about intent or culpability in Nash's death.

Some community members have asked the Bronx DA's Office to drop the assault charges against Diallo. An online petition in support of this currently has 120 signatures.

Sami Disu, a community organizer who put together the petition, said the autopsy results did not change how he felt about the case, and he would continue to advocate for the DA's office to drop its charges against Diallo.

"This result that has come in doesn’t change anything," he said. "It’s just a formality as far as we are concerned."

Diallo is due back in court on Sept. 7. Michaels did not respond to a request for comment.