Autopsy report offers new details on Haskins' tragic accident originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins “drank heavily” at a club and still had a large amount of alcohol in his blood when he was struck and killed by a dump truck on a South Florida highway last month, according to a new autopsy report.
Haskins, 24, was killed the morning of April 9 when he was struck by the truck in the westbound lanes of Interstate 595 near the exit for Interstate 95.
Florida Highway Patrol officials said Haskins, who had been walking on the highway, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The autopsy released Monday by the Broward County Medical Examiner lists Haskins’ cause of death as “multiple blunt force injuries” and his manner of death as an “accident.”
The autopsy said a female companion was inside a vehicle with Haskins when they ran out of gas on the side of I-595. He left on foot to go find a gas station, the autopsy said.
Haskins’ wife Kalabrya, was heard explaining the situation to a 911 operator in a call released last month.
“I’m calling because my husband was stuck on the side of the highway. He had to go walk and get gas,” she tells a 911 operator. “I kept calling and kept calling, he wouldn’t answer.”
Kalaybra Haskins explains to the operator that she’s calling from Pittsburgh and had been on the phone with her husband when his phone went dead.
“I just want somebody to go in the area and see if his car’s there, if he’s ok, if anything happened to him,” she asks the operator. “It’s not like him for him not to call me back and his phone to go dead and he’s stranded by himself.”
“I don’t want you to panic but I’m gonna be honest with you, we do have an incident on the highway but I can’t confirm if that’s your husband or not,” the 911 operator responds.
Haskins was reportedly witnessed waving cars down on the shoulder of I-595 when he was struck by the truck and an SUV, the autopsy said.
The female companion remained in the vehicle until FHP troopers found her, and the report said FHP officials didn’t disclose the nature of Haskins’ relationship with the female.
An official with the Steelers told investigators that Haskins had been training with teammates all day, and they went to dinner.
After dinner, Haskins went to a club with his friend or cousin, where he “drank heavily,” the autopsy said.
At some point Haskins and the friend or cousin got into a fight and separated, the report said.
According to the toxicology report from the autopsy, two tests showed Haskins’ blood alcohol level at 0.20 and 0.24, well above Florida’s legal level of 0.08.
Haskins also tested positive for ketamine and norketamine, the autopsy said.
Ketamine can be used as a powerful sedative, or is known as the party drug sometimes called Special K.
The incident remains under investigation by FHP.
At Ohio State, Haskins set single-season records for touchdowns passing with 50 and yards passing with 4,831. He was the 2019 Rose Bowl MVP as the Buckeyes went 13-1.
A 2019 first-round draft pick by Washington, Haskins was released by the team after going 3-10 over two seasons. He was signed by Pittsburgh as a developmental QB, but he didn’t appear in a game last season.
This story originally appeared on NBCMiami.com
