UPDATE: King's fiancée Cynthia Kelley has told friends that he was drinking all day Saturday and smoked marajuana just hours before his death. Kelley heard King, who was completely nude, banging on the glass of their Rialito home before he jumped or fell into the pool.
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Rodney King, the face of the infamous 1992 Los Angeles riots, was found dead early this morning at his home in Rialto, CA. He was 47.
Kelley heard him in the back yard, and went outside to find him at the bottom of his swimming pool, according to CNN. After calling 911 at 5:25 am, Kelly physically removed him from the pool and attempted to revive him, but it was too late. King was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 6:11 am.
"Rialto police officers responded to the location and removed him from inside of the pool and began CPR. The Rialto Fire Department paramedics responded and transported Mr. King to the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m. this morning,” said Rialto police Captain Randy De Anda.
King rose to fame in 1992 when he was the victim of a brutal beating at the hands of four LAPD officers. The beating, which was caught on camera, was the inexcusable result of King's attempt to flee officers after he panicked that he'd be sent to prison for violating his parole. When an all-white jury acquitted three of the four officers of the heinous crime that almost killed King (it took three surgeons five hours to complete his operations), Los Angeles riots erupted. Eventually, two of the four officers were convicted on civil rights charges.
De Anda said preliminary information showed no signs of foul play in King's death.
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