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Hit-run victim lived hours, not days, medical examiner says Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Dr. Nizam Peerwani said the extent of Biggs' injuries, including the near amputation of his left leg, indicates that the 37-year-old man died from a loss of blood quicker than the two- to three-day time frame police originally stated.
"He couldn't have died instantaneously," Peerwani said. "There was some interval of time before he died. ...
"No way are we going to support two or three days that he was alive. We are talking in hours."
Chante Mallard, the 25-year-old nurse's aide charged with murder in Biggs' death, remained in Tarrant County Jail on Tuesday with bail set at $250,000.
Police spokesman Duane Paul said investigators received conflicting information about the man's time of death during a Feb. 26 interview with Mallard and from the woman who first tipped police after hearing Mallard discuss the accident at a party in mid-February.
Mallard told police the accident occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 26, the day before Biggs' body was found by two men in Cobb Park. The tipster said Mallard told friends at the party that Biggs did not die for a couple of days, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
"She (the tipster) was told one thing. The detectives were told another thing by Chante Mallard," Paul said. "We're trying to sort through everything and determine exactly what the time frame was."
Paul said regardless of how long it took for Biggs to die, evidence shows he was alive after the accident.
"The amount of time that it took for Mr. Biggs to die does not affect our investigation or our case," Paul said. "It still appears that she did not render any type of aid for Mr. Biggs, either sought aid or provided any type of medical assistance for Mr. Biggs."
Peerwani, who performed the autopsy on Biggs, said he wants to review police and crime lab reports before providing the district attorney's office with a more specific estimate of the time of death.
Peerwani said he attibuted the death to injuries from a hit-and-run accident but said the body's lividity indicated Biggs probably had been struck elsewhere and later dumped in the park.
Peerwani later changed the manner of death from undetermined to homicide after a police investigation revealed Biggs had been struck by Mallard's car near the East Loop 820 and U.S. 287 split. Police said Mallard panicked, then drove home a few miles with the injured man lodged in her windshield.
There, she parked the car in the garage and apologized profusely to Biggs but never sought help for the dying man, police said. Friends of the woman, who police are still seeking, later helped dispose of the body in Cobb Park, police said.
Peerwani said he changed the ruling to a homicide because Biggs "would have survived had he been taken for medical treatment."
Peerwani said the condition of Biggs' body at the time it was found indicates it was dumped at the park within a day or so of the accident.
"The body was fairly well preserved, not decomposing," Peerwani said. "I don't think this accident occurred two or three days before the body was found. Based on preservation of the body, I would suggest it is not anymore than a day or so."
Peerwani said he has previously ruled a few cases homicides based on another person's failure to seek medical attention, but he called the circumstances behind Biggs' death unique.
"I've never had a case like this in 25 years," he said.
Deanna Boyd, (817) 390-7655 dboyd@star-telegram.com
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Like the attorney says; "...blown way out of proportion." </sarcasm>
Wouldn't this statement indicate that he did live for days.
I beleive I heard yesterday she had been remanded to the custody of her attorney to go to psychiatric treatment.
Two or three visits should clear her right up.