Autopsy shows Fort Bliss Pfc. Asia Graham died of drug overdose
FORT BLISS, Texas -- The Armed Forces Medical Examiner has determined the death of a female Army private first class, whose lifeless body was found in her Fort Bliss barracks room on New Year's Eve, was the result of a drug overdose.
U.S. Army officials at Fort Bliss released a summary of the medical examiner's autopsy report on Wednesday afternoon. It concluded that 19-year-old Asia Graham's "cause and manner of death was Accidental Mixed Drug (Fentanyl and Multiple Synthetic Cannabinoids) Intoxication.”
Officials said the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, which had previously said foul play was not suspected, was continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Graham's drug overdose.
After Graham's death, it was publicly revealed that she had been sexually assaulted at Fort Bliss. Word of her cause of death comes as her alleged assailant - a fellow soldier - is undergoing court-martial proceedings this week.
Pfc. Christian Alvarado is accused of raping Graham in 2019 while she was unconscious. Alvarado is also accused of sexually assaulting other women on multiple occasions over the last few years.
Graham was a Cherryville, North Carolina native assigned as a human resources specialist to the 1-501st Attack Battalion, 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade. Fort Bliss was her first duty station after basic training.
