A man who died a bloody death in downtown Los Angeles after violently chopping his own penis with a pocketknife was so high on meth that he should have been dead.
New bloodcurdling details about 31-year-old Ryan Dexter Sutherland’s extreme self-mutilation in the early hours of March 7 were revealed in a medical examiner’s report.
Sutherland inflicted himself with more than 20 stab wounds, including on his neck, upper abdomen, wrists and forearms, the report found.
A toxicology report showed he had an extreme amount of methamphetamine in his system, as well as MDMA.
He had blood concentrations of 1.9 ug/mL for meth and .24 ug/mL for amphetamines -— considered a deadly amount of the drugs — although it was not noted as a cause of death.
Sutherland’s death was ruled a suicide due to multiple “sharp force injuries” to his neck, right forearm and wrist, chest and genitalia. He used a non-serrated pocketknife about two inches long and three-quarters inch wide to cut himself, according to the report.
The wound to his genitals spanned nearly a foot in circumference, exposing his testes and causing a “degloving” of his penis, the report noted.
The medical examiner ruled that injuries to an artery and vein in his right arm and wounds to his neck that damaged his jugular vein and trachea presumably ended his life.
A security guard at a 7/11 across the road from the LA Convention Center witnessed Sutherland’s bloody collapse and called the police.
Officials arrived on scene near the intersection of Figueroa Street and Pico Boulevard to find his blood-soaked clothing scattered across the sidewalk.
Police identified Sutherland by his fingerprints.
The report described the troubled Sutherland as black man standing 5-foot-11 and weighing 264 pounds, with a clean-shaven scalp. He had brown eyes, a mustache and goatee.
His aunt told police he’d never previously threatened or attempted suicide, but did have a history of illicit drug use and had previously been to rehab, the report noted. His parents were notified of his death.
Little else was is revealed about Sutherland’s background, other than he suffered from ADHD.
Meth users are known to have a significantly higher risk for suicide than the general population, studies show.
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