NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former New Orleans police officer charged in the videotaped beating of a man after Hurricane Katrina apparently shot himself to death about a month before his trial, authorities said Monday.
The body of Lance Schilling, 30, was found Sunday in a suburban Metairie home. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the roof of the mouth, Jefferson Parish coroner's office said.
Schilling and another former officer were accused of beating Robert Davis, 64, a retired school teacher who had returned to New Orleans to check on his property several weeks after the storm.
An Associated Press Television News team recorded Davis being kneed and struck at least four times on the head by two police officers the night of October 8, 2005.
Davis was booked on municipal charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. All charges were later dropped.
Schilling's attorney, Franz Zibilich, said he was saddened by his client's death. He believed the suspected suicide had no connection to the pending trial, which had been set for June 29. The former officer faced five years behind bars if convicted of second-degree battery charge.
"The truth be known, he was looking forward to having this matter tried and heard," Zibilich said.
New Orleans police spokesman Marlon Defillo said Schilling had not been with the department since December 2005.
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