Doressia McKee refuses to accept the official explanation of her son's death.

When 38-year-old Freddie McKee was found dead on his father's porch in 2022, authorities quickly labeled it a drug overdose. But two wildly different toxicology reports—one showing no drugs, the other lethal levels of eutylone—have fueled her three-year quest for answers.

“This is why I can’t let this go,” she said to The Root. “I will never have a peaceful night. I’ve already cried enough where I can’t even cry anymore.”

The case echoes national controversies over autopsy reliability in Black deaths. Forensic toxicologist and attorney Okorie Okorocha, while not involved in McKee's case, explained the challenges of post-mortem drug analysis:

“In post-mortem, everything changes and you get random levels and numbers. People with low concentrations of drugs post-mortem get very high concentrations afterwards and vice versa. It’s so drastic that sometimes drugs appear post-mortem that were not there when the person was alive so the levels don’t prove anything.”

McKee sought secondary testing but hit a wall. Both she and The Root were told no blood samples remained, contradicting death investigator Stacey Huck's statement that labs typically retain samples for two years.

McKee filed a racial discrimination complaint against the Boone County Medical Examiner's Office and Dr. Carl Stacy. The University of Missouri's investigation found no policy violations, with spokesperson Christian Basi confirming:

“Ms. McKee’s complaint to the university’s Office of Institutional Equity was investigated by outside counsel. Following their investigation, no violation of university equity policies was found – My understanding is that it is an “outside counsel” firm, but I don’t have any additional details beyond that,” said Christian Basi according to The Root.