The NYPD has reclassified the death of a 35-year-old man in LeFrak City as a DOA investigation rather than a case of homicide.
Police from the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst responded to a 911 call Saturday at 96-10 57th Ave. just before 2 p.m. and discovered Douglas Jones in a 17th-floor stairwell unconscious and unresponsive. They initially determined that the victim had died due to a gunshot wound to his head.
EMS responded to the crime scene and pronounced Douglas deceased on the scene, according to the NYPD. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner would determine the exact cause of death, police said.
Following an autopsy, it was determined that Jones, who lived in a nearby building at LeFrak City, had not been shot in the head. Instead, his death was deemed accidental, police said Monday morning.
“The individual’s injuries were determined to not be gunshot wounds, but possibly from a fall from the stairwell where he was found,” the NYPD said in a statement, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
