OC public defender who died in Mexico laid to rest; mystery surrounding death continues
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- The 33-year-old Orange County public defender who died in Mexico last month was laid to rest Saturday as the mystery surrounding his death continues.
Hundreds attended a special ceremony at Christ Cathedral Church in Garden Grove to honor 33-year-old Elliot Blair.
He and his wife Kimberly Williams, both public defenders at the Orange County Public Defender's Office, were celebrating their first wedding anniversary at Las Rocas Resort and Spa -- located on the shores of Rosarito Beach, just south of Tijuana, along the western coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula -- when Blair appeared to have fallen off a balcony to his death at the resort on Jan. 14.
An autopsy established that Blair's death "was the result of an unfortunate accident due to the fall of the deceased from a third floor," the State Attorney General's Office of Baja California said in a statement.
Local authorities said there were no signs of struggle in the couple's hotel room.
A toxicology report found that there was a "considerable" amount of alcohol in Blair's body, the State Attorney General's Office of Baja California said. His cause of death was listed as severe head trauma in a forensic medical necropsy certificate.
However, Williams and her attorney maintain that the extent of Blair's injuries appears to indicate he was attacked.
"It's the physical evidence we've been able to obtain, the autopsy," Case Barnett, the family's attorney, told "Good Morning America." "The autopsy confirms that he, Elliot Blair, was murdered that night."
Williams spoke about her husband's death earlier this week, saying she doesn't believe this was accidental.
"I just know it's not an accident. I know he didn't fall. I just know that," she said. "I want to do everything we can to figure out what happened in that 45-minute, hour time span. Because that's what Elliot deserves. And that's the hardest part for me, is not knowing."
