The death of a 19 -year-old Virginia woman who died while in police custody from a gunshot wound to the head in July has been ruled a suicide by the medical examiner's office.
Police said Sarah Wilson managed to shoot herself through the mouth while her hands were cuffed behind her back following a drug bust during a traffic stop in Chesapeake on July 25.
Officers had left her unattended while in pursuit of her boyfriend, Holden Medlin, 27, during which time she is said to have obtained a gun from the Lexus she was riding in.
Wilson's mother, Dawn, said she doubted her daughter took her own life, based on what she said are witness accounts that point to police shooting Sarah.
No police body camera footage has been released from the incident, because police said it was knocked off during their pursuit of Medlin.
Police and the medical examiner in Chesapeake, Virginia said 19-year-old Sarah Wilson (left) shot and killed herself after officers pulled over her boyfriend's car. Holden Medlin (right), 27, allegedly resisted arrest and was charged with drug and weapons possession
Chesapeake police spokesperson Leo Kosinski spoke to Dailymail.com by phone on August 1 about Sarah's death, stating: 'the police did not shoot her... she died from suicide.'
Lt Kosinski confirmed at that time that Sarah had her hands restrained behind her back and said she was somehow able to reach into the car while an officer was not looking, grab the gun and take her own life.
'If you have anything motivating you and you’re limber enough, you can wiggle,' he noted.
But Sarah's mother, Dawn, told ABC 13 in August: 'Things are not matching up. Somewhere, somehow, there is a discrepancy.'
Police said Sarah Wilson (pictured in front, as a child,with her mother, Dawn) managed to shoot herself through the mouth while her hands were cuffed behind her back following a drug bust during a traffic stop in Chesapeake on July 25
But Sarah's mother, Dawn (right), said in August: 'Things are not matching up. Somewhere, somehow, there is a discrepancy.' Sarah is pictured at left
'In all of her life I have never known of [Sarah] to shoot a gun, own a gun, or even hold a gun,' Dawn said.
She added: 'There is a few different stories, but they all end the same: that the police shot her.'
According to police, Sarah was riding as a passenger in a car operated by Medlin at 4.30pm on July 25 when police officers pulled the vehicle over at the intersection of Berkley Avenue and Wilson Road in Chesapeake.
Medlin became 'disorderly' during the stop and resisted arrest, leading officers to use a Taser on him, investigators
