An autopsy report for Luis Guevara confirmed the 19-year-old Orioles minor league player died from head and neck trauma he suffered in a personal watercraft crash in June.
The report also indicated Guevara was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, apart from metronidazole, which treats bacterial infections, according to Mayo Clinic. The details of the report corroborate the initial reports from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, which is investigating the incident, as well as a witness account of the scene.
The crash occurred June 15 about 8 p.m. off Lido Key in Sarasota, Florida, when a Jet Ski carrying Miguel Rodríguez and Jesús Palacios, 19- and 20-year-old Orioles prospects from Venezuela, hit the stalled watercraft with Guevara and Keiver Jose Guillen Reatiga aboard.
The scene turned frantic, according to an incident report and witness account, when the badly injured Guevara was pulled from the water. Guevara and Reatiga were taken to the hospital.
The autopsy for Guevara, completed by the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida, indicated he experienced head trauma, spinal fractures and spinal cord contusion.
At the time, Guevara played with the Orioles’ Florida Complex League team, but he had reached Double-A Chesapeake about two weeks before his death. His former manager, Christian Frias, earned the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award this year, and he wore Guevara’s initials on his hat while receiving the honor.
“We had the whole organization behind us,” Frias said. “It was a team effort. The guys never gave up. They wanted to play for him. They wanted to make sure he was honored and that his name wasn’t forgotten.”
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