Nearly 1 year after woman's death, coroner rules it homicide

DUNCAN, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina coroner says a woman with cerebral palsy who was found dead in her home last year had been strangled.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Tuesday he ruled Brittany Foster's death a homicide after getting the pathologist's autopsy results Aug. 3.

Authorities had called it an "unattended death."

Police reports said Foster's caregiver found her on the living room floor late last August and there were no signs of a struggle. The caregiver told officers Foster used a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy.

But a coroner's investigator noticed swelling and redness in Foster's eyes, a broken fingernail and a mark under her chin.

Duncan Police Chief Carl Long says his office is investigating. He says he's still awaiting DNA results sent to the State Law Enforcement Division.

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