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Coaches charged with murder in heat-related death of Georgia high school basketball player

Two Georgia basketball coaches have been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree child cruelty, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the 2019 death of high school player Imani Bell.

Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a grand jury concluded that coaches Larosa Maria Walker-Asekere and Dwight Broom Palmer were culpable after allegedly “conducting outdoor conditioning training for student athletes in dangerous heat, resulting in the death of Imani Bell due to hyperthermia and rhabdomyolysis,” a muscle fiber injury condition that can lead to kidney failure.

Autopsy: Bell collapsed near top of stairs, later died

Bell was a 16-year-old student-athlete at the Elite Scholars Academy in Clayton County, located just south of Atlanta.