Drowning ruled in pool death mystery

Published 12:33 am Wednesday, July 13, 2016

NATCHEZ — The death of a Natchez man in the pool of a stranger — while the homeowners apparently slept in the house unaware he was in the pool — has been officially ruled a drowning.

Adams County Coroner James Lee said he received Tuesday the report on the death Cedric Knight, 27, and the autopsy determined it was a freshwater drowning.

The report indicated “nothing else significant at all,” Lee said.

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“It was a strange situation how he got there, but he definitely drowned,” he said.

Knight was discovered dead in a pool at a High Street residence shortly after 6 a.m. June 30, when the homeowner, who did not know Knight, went outside to clean the pool.

Investigators speculated at the time that Knight jumped the fence next to the pool and landed in the water — which is very close to the fence — but did not know why he was entering the back yard.

Natchez Police Department Detective Jerry Ford said investigators have not been able to find witnesses or other evidence linked to the drowning since then, and it will likely not be investigated further.

“It was just one of those unfortunate things,” Ford said. “Right now, we don’t have anything that would sustain anything other than an accidental drowning at this point.”