U.S. pathologist questions marks on Adriana’s body

Jun 05, 2025 News

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— lawyer seeks answers from police

Kaieteur News – United States forensic pathologist, Dr. Carol Terry, has raised critical questions about marks found on the body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge, whose death remains under investigation.

Among her observations during a second autopsy, Dr. Terry noted unusual marks on Adriana’s feet and queried whether they might be consistent with the pattern of the tiles in the pool where the child’s body was discovered.

This was revealed by the family’s lead attorney, Dr. Dexter Todd, during an appearance on the Reset Talk Show hosted by Jr. Giddings. Dr. Todd was joined by Adriana’s mother, Amecia Simon, and her aunt, Ameka Lewis, to provide an update on the case.

During the programme, Dr. Todd revealed that Dr. Terry had submitted a six-page document containing over 100 questions regarding the police investigation into Adriana’s death. “I have in my hands a six-page document submitted to me by this pathologist asking close to a hundred and something questions from the investigations before Dr. Terry even comes to preparing a report,” Dr. Todd stated.

He highlighted one specific concern the pathologist noticed. “The tile pattern—because there are marks on Adriana’s foot that she [Dr. Terry] wants to see whether those are consistent with the tile pattern.” Dr. Todd emphasised that Dr. Terry is meticulously examining every mark found on Adriana’s body before determining the cause of death. “Every mark on that body must be accounted for, and that is what this pathologist is attempting to do,” he said.

He added that Dr. Terry cannot conclude the cause of death without information from the police investigation. “Dr. Terry cannot come to that conclusion without all the information. That is why it’s going back to the importance of a forensic [expert] who understands that you have to look at the circumstances in its totality before you come to a finding,” Dr. Todd said, adding that an autopsy is only a small fraction of a death investigation in a complex case like this.

In pursuit of this information, Dr. Todd confirmed that he had sent a second letter to Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), we dispatched a second letter to the Commissioner of Police [and] the Crime Chief in which we are seeking a number of answers in relation to questions posed by Dr. Terry in relation to the investigation,” Dr. Todd explained. “The information that we are seeking is not information that we do not already have, we have these information, but it is important for us to go through the process to ensure that the police are supplying the information that we have, that there is no distortion in what they are supplying. Because at the end of the day, the police by law have the responsibility to investigate this matter. But we are monitoring closely the entire investigation because a lot of the information that you need to pursue the investigation is already out there.”

Dr. Todd also reiterated Dr. Terry’s need to access the first autopsy report, which was conducted on April 28 by three international pathologists.

“The importance of seeing the first autopsy report is to have an appreciation [of] whether all the necessary steps were thoroughly taken,” he said. “She did say a second autopsy is really an opportunity to do what she determines as a quality assurance—looking to see what was done and make a determination thereafter.”

He elaborated, The first pathology report will be a compilation of not only the findings in relation to the physical examination—which she believes was technically proficient—she believes it was competently and thoroughly done in terms of the physical examination. It is important, as she mentioned in the interview, that the entire autopsy process goes to the second stage, which is looking at the toxicology test, DNA, etc. Because she did say that those samples taken would have been of the best quality, as opposed to the second autopsy, where there were a number of artefacts being introduced to the body. There are a number of samples that Dr. Terry took, so if when reviewing the first autopsy report, she’s of the opinion that there is anything that was missed, she said you only have one opportunity to go into the body. That is why she ensured that at least samples were kept.”

Following the second autopsy, Dr. Terry, who is the Chief Medical Examiner of Gwinnett County, Atlanta, Georgia, spoke with journalist Travis Chase. She asserted that only a comprehensive investigation can determine whether Adriana was murdered or died from drowning.

Dr. Terry noted that the case presents “highly suspicious” circumstances that cannot yet be conclusively attributed to drowning. “At this point in time, I would not come to that conclusion. I think that there’s a lot of information that needs to be gained, a lot of investigation that needs to be done. Drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion. And by that, it means that you have to exclude other potential causes of death. And oftentimes when a body is found in water, the assumption is that the person has drowned,” she stated.

Dr. Terry confirmed that she has not yet received the toxicology results or additional testing conducted during the first autopsy—information she said is crucial for a definitive conclusion. When asked whether she would conclude that Adriana drowned based on current evidence, she replied: “Yes, I would. Based on the circumstances that are reported to me, I would.”

She further stressed the need to explore other possibilities, including drug presence and sexual assault: “Things like this need to be considered and looked at, given the circumstances reported to me.”

Dr. Terry also shared that Adriana’s body had lost significant forensic value by the time of the second autopsy, suggesting that the procedure had been compromised. However, she noted an important observation: parts of Adriana’s neck tissue were still soft, possibly indicating that this area was not thoroughly examined in the first autopsy. “As I said, my role here was essentially performing a quality control check through the second autopsy. From what I observed, the first examination was technically done very competently and thoroughly. I would now like to see what those results are,” Dr. Terry stated. The investigation into Adriana Younge’s death remains ongoing as her family and independent experts continue to demand full transparency and accountability.

 

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• Adriana Younge, Adriana’s body, Dr. Carol Terry, Reset Talk Show, U.S. pathologist

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