Breaking news from St Louis American newspaper.
Cora Faith Walker, the former state representative whose March 11 death set off a wave of speculation, died of heart disease stemming from an untreated condition.
That’s according to Dr. Michael Graham, chief medical examiner, for the city. Graham, whose office routinely investigates the sudden, unexpected deaths of young people, said Walker died of the “sudden onset of a lethal cardiac rhythm disturbance that was caused by underlying heart muscle disease,” formally classified as “nonischemic cardiomyopathy.”
No illegal drugs were found in her system and alcohol “had nothing to do with her death,” Graham said.
The finding confirmed an earlier St. Louis Police Department inquiry that uncovered no “suspicious” activity in the death of the 37-year-old who left state government in 2019 to work for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
She served Ferguson, District 74, in the Missouri House of Representatives beginning in January 2017. In Page’s administration she served as policy chief.
Walker collapsed in the hallway of the Loews Hotel, the morning after attending a birthday party for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, a close friend.
Graham said there was no indication that Walker was being treated for the underlying heart disease that claimed her life, though she did have normal doses of other prescribed medications in her system.
“She was not being treated for any heart disease,” said Graham. “She was unaware that she specifically had this going on.”
Graham said hotel video was “really useful” in helping investigators piece together the last moments of the life of Walker, who was hailed as a tireless worker on behalf of women and healthcare.
