Rodney King, the man at the center of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was found dead this morning at the bottom of a pool. He was 47 years old. King was apparently doing a lot of drinking and weed smoking before he drowned.
Details:
According to our sources, King’s fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, is telling friends King was at the house all day drinking, and he smoked marijuana at some point, before she went to bed at 2:00 AM.
We’re told Kelley says she next saw King at around 5:00 AM when she was awoken by him screaming in the backyard. Our sources say Kelley found King naked, banging on the glass, and she called out to him, “What’s wrong, Rodney?”
Kelley is telling friends she then went to grab her phone when she heard a big splash. She then went to the backyard and discovered him in the bottom of the pool and called police.
Paramedics attempted to revive King, but were unsuccessful.
King is known for being the victim of police brutality by the LAPD in 1991. The officers involved in the brutality were acquitted a year later, and the announcement of the acquittal incited the infamous 1992 L.A. riots.
[both stories and video via TMZ]
