A coroner in Las Vegas has finally ruled on the sudden death of a 20-year-old college football player who tragically died in February.
According to the coroner’s report, Ryan Keeler dies suddenly due to heart failure.
The Clark County coroner’s office listed Keller’s death as being the result of “natural causes.”
As Slay News previously reported, Ryan Keeler, a sophomore defensive end for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was found unresponsive in his apartment on February 20.
He was later pronounced dead.
At the time, no cause of death was revealed while authorities awaited the results of an autopsy.
This week, the coroner’s office revealed that Keeler suffered from a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, The Associated Press reported.
The condition is characterized by the thickening of the heart muscle.
It ultimately leads to an irregular heartbeat that can prove fatal.
According to the autopsy report, Keeler’s death was caused by the condition.
The coroner’s office classified his death as natural.
The report didn’t reveal what may have caused the condition, however, stating only that it occurred “naturally.”
Coroner makes ruling in death of UNLV football player Ryan Keeler https://t.co/KuPOdwL5OP pic.twitter.com/amtUpJMzPa
— New York Post (@nypost) June 5, 2023
Las Vegas police had launched an investigation into Keeler’s unexpected passing in February.
But investigators were waiting on the release of the coroner’s report.
The police department’s spokesman Robert Wicks said the investigation is now officially closed.
A week after Keeler’s death, TMZ Sports shared a police report that offered a little more insight into the circumstances surrounding his death.
According to the report, Keeler had been suffering from nausea the week before he died.
He was prescribed an undisclosed medication by a team doctor.
The day before he died, Keeler reportedly told a friend that he was feeling “a little better.”
The next day, an assistant coach found Keeler “cold to the touch” during a welfare check.
After his freshmen season in 2021, the 6-foot-6 tall, 275-pound Keeler transferred to UNLV.
He began his college football career at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
The Chicago native played in seven games for UNLV last season.
He had earned a place on the Mountain West All-Academic team with a GPA of 3.8.
UNLV head coach Barry Odom, who was hired in the offseason and had not yet coached Keeler in a game, said in a statement that the young man’s death had “devastated” the program.
“While I had the honor of knowing Ryan for only a couple of months, he already stood out to our coaching staff as an incredible person, student, and teammate,” Odom said.
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