A Hardin County grand jury cleared two Lumberton police officers in whose custody a Port Arthur man died earlier this year.

An autopsy showed that the April 30 death of 35-year-old Kevin LaDay was caused by potentially lethal levels of PCP. However, his mother had accused the officers of beating LaDay. The allegations fueled racial tensions throughout the area.

The incident started when LaDay veered his car into a ditch. When police tried to administer a field sobriety test, LaDay ran. The officers caught and struggled with LaDay, then subdued him with a Taser gun. LaDay lost consciousness and later died at a hospital.

The FBI has also been investigating the incident.

The town of Lumberton was rocked with racial tensions over LaDay’s death and in early May, Quanell X of the New Black Panthers of Houston, spoke at a rally in front of the Lumberton Police Station in protest of LaDay’s death.

Quanell X called circumstances surrounding LaDay’s passing suspicious and asked for a proper investigation and justice for LaDay’s family.

LaDay’s mother, Sandra LaDay, accused Lumberton police of severely beating her son, enough to cause his death, and had a independent autopsy performed in Arlington.

The initial autopsy report, performed by Dr. Tommy J. Brown at the request of Vi McGinnis, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 in Jefferson County, showed no signs of a beating contributing to LaDay’s death.

According to the Jefferson County autopsy report, LaDay at the time of his death was found to have elevated levels of phencyclidine, or PCP as the drug is more commonly known, in his system.

Sandra LaDay does not believe her son was on drugs at the time of his death and said if they (drugs) were in his system, someone, possibly the police, must have put them there.

LaDay said her son had a history of drug abuse, even going to prison for drug-related offenses, but was not using at the time of his death.