JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A Hinds County judge said the brother of Dau Mabil cannot conduct an autopsy with a certain pathologist.

Dau was found deceased in the Pearl River in Lawrence County in April after he disappeared in Jackson in March.

Dau’s wife, Karissa Bowley, and his brother, Bul Mabil, have been at odds over an independent autopsy for months.

In early July, Bul wanted a Hinds County court to allow Dr. Matthias Okoye to conduct the autopsy. On Wednesday, Judge Dewayne Thomas denied a motion to enforce a judgment in the autopsy case and ruled that Bowley could object to Bul’s choice in pathologist.

Lisa Ross, right, attorney for Bul Mabil, seated center, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, listens to his question, while Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, awaits a renewed spate of questions during a hearing, on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil’s remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

According to the first autopsy report from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office, Dau’s cause of death was ruled as a drowning, but his manner of death was undetermined.

The report stated no external signs of trauma or injury were identified that could account for Mabil’s death. A postmortem toxicological analysis of his liver tissue and decomposition fluid detected the presence of ethanol.

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Bul believes foul play may have been involved in Dau’s death and wanted a second autopsy in May. Thomas ruled an independent autopsy could be conducted at Bul’s expense.

“Should Bul Garang Mabil desire to have an independent autopsy performed at his expense, Dr. (Daniel) Shultz may perform the same,” Thomas wrote.

Judge denies motion to enforce judgment in Dau Mabil case

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