Coroner: Intoxication led to Birdie Africa drowning

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Thursday, June 12, 2014
VIDEO: Coroner rules on Birdie Africa's death
A coroner in Florida has made a determination on his 2013 death.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A coroner in Florida has ruled that Michael Moses Ward, a MOVE bombing survivor once known as Birdie Africa, drowned because of alcohol intoxication.

That ruling was released this week by the medical examiner in Brevard County, Florida.

Ward, 41, had a blood alcohol level of .156 percent at the time of his death, nearly twice the legal limit for drunk driving, the coroner ruled.

Ward was found dead in a Caribbean cruise ship hot tub back in September, 2013.

He was a 13-year-old boy living with his mother at the compound of the militant group MOVE when Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on the roof, killing five children and six adults and incinerating 61 row homes in 1985.

Ward changed his name in 1986 and lived with his father, Andino Ward.

He recovered from serious burns and served in the Army.