By Joe Johnson
A 40-year-old Athens woman whose body was found nearly three months ago in the parking lot of a Baxter Street restaurant died from a medical condition that was exacerbated by drug use, according to Athens-Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson.
Kimberly Patricia Cope’s body was found early the morning of Jan. 2 by a jogger in the parking lot of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers at 795 Baxter St. Wilson said the body displayed no signs of trauma. Cope had lived in a nearby apartment on Baxter Street.
Wilson said he recently received a report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's State Crime Lab the indicated Cope's death was "heart-related complicated by drug use."
The autopsy found drugs in Cope's blood, Wilson said, adding that the woman had hypertension and an enlarged heart.