(RepublicanInformer.com)- The former Missouri state lawmaker whose death in early March sparked a wave of kooky conspiracy theories, rumors, and muckraking died due to untreated heart disease, according to the medical examiner.
St. Louis chief medical examiner Dr. Michael Graham said last week that Cora Faith Walker’s cause of death was a “sudden onset of a lethal cardiac rhythm disturbance” caused by an underlying disease of the heart muscle. The cause of death is formally classified as “nonischemic cardiomyopathy.”
Graham said no illegal drugs were found in Walker’s system and her death had nothing to do with alcohol.
The 37-year-old Walker formerly served Ferguson, District 74, in the Missouri House of Representatives. She left office in 2019 to work for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
On March 11, Walker collapsed in the hallway of the Loews Hotel after attending a birthday party for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones the day before.
Dr. Graham concluded that there was no indication that Walker had been treated for the underlying disease that caused her death and said it was likely she was unaware that she suffered from this heart disease. He noted that there were normal doses of other prescribed medications in her system.
Based on the surveillance footage from the hotel, Graham said it was clear that Walker suffered no signs of “agitation or distress” before she collapsed, adding that she had been “behaving perfectly normally” before she leaned against a wall and collapsed to the floor.
Graham said Walker had no physical injuries other than the ones caused when a good Samaritan performed CPR before medical help arrived.
After the police department conducted its review of Walker’s death, St. Louis Public Safety Director Dr. Dan Isom blasted the “rumors” and unsubstantiated reports in the media that manufactured “controversy out of tragedy.” Calling out the St. Louis Post Dispatch by name, Isom said the paper’s editorial on Walker’s death was “reckless” and full of errors.
