Attacker on Drugs When He Killed Texas Pastor

By: The Associated Press Email

Updated: Wed 9:11 AM, Feb 13, 2013

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A coroner says an attacker who crashed his car into a North Texas church and beat a minister to death before dying in custody had been using drugs.

The Tarrant County medical examiner on Tuesday ruled the death of Derrick Birdow was associated with PCP ingestion.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Forest Hill police Chief Dan Dennis says investigators suspected Birdow was on the hallucinogenic drug due to his behavior.

Birdow on Oct. 29 drove into the Greater Sweethome Missionary Baptist Church, picked up a guitar and fatally beat the Rev. Danny Kirk Sr.

An officer used a Taser to subdue Birdow. He stopped breathing in a patrol car and was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The medical examiner says the Taser shocks did not contribute to Birdow's death.

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