Story highlights Attorney for family: "They have hid this from us for five months" 
 
 The coroner says the 21-year-old's death was homicide, result of "blunt force trauma" 
 
 Matthew Ajibade broke female sergeant's nose while being restrained after arrest, police say 
 
 (CNN) The death of a 21-year-old Nigerian student in an isolation jail cell in Savannah, Georgia, on New Year's Day has been ruled a homicide, Chatham County coroner William Wessinger said Thursday. 
 
 Matthew Ajibade's cause of death "is listed as blunt force trauma, which was really a combination of several things that were enumerated in his autopsy report by the GBI," the coroner said, citing "abrasions, lacerations, skin injuries about the head and some other areas of the body. There was some small amount of blood inside the skull case." 
 
 Wessinger stressed that homicide means only that another person was involved. It is not tantamount to murder, though it includes murder, he said. 
 
 Nine Chatham County deputies were fired in connection with Ajibade's death last month, said Gena Bilbo, spokeswoman for the Chatham County Sheriff's Office. Cpl. Maxine Evans and Cpl. Jason Kenny, two of those nine deputies had been on paid leave for "inappropriate actions" in the case, Bilbo said. 
 
 Cpl. Maxine Evans 
 
 Authorities provided no further details into the deputies' conduct at the time. 
 
 Read More ||||| Chatham County Sheriff Al St Lawrence addresses media during a press conference at the Chatham Sheriff's Office on Thursday, June 4, 2015. The press conference was on the use of tasers by officers on... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chatham County Sheriff Al St Lawrence addresses media during a press conference at the Chatham Sheriff's Office on Thursday, June 4, 2015. The press conference was on the use of tasers by officers on... (Associated Press) 
 
 SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A 22-year-old college student found dead in restraints at a Georgia county jail died from several blunt-force injuries to his head and upper body, the coroner who ruled the death a homicide said Thursday. 
 
 Investigators for months have refused to say how Matthew Ajibade died, citing an open criminal inquiry. His body was found on New Year's Day strapped in a restraining chair inside an isolation cell at the Chatham County jail. 
 
 Chatham County Sheriff Al St. Lawrence last month fired nine deputies in connection with the death, and District Attorney Meg Heap has said she plans to seek an indictment from a grand jury. 
 
 Attorneys for Ajibade's parents in Hyattsville, Maryland, said they learned Thursday that his death had been ruled a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma from information on the death certificate. The attorneys shared a copy with The Associated Press. 
 
 Dr. Bill Wessinger, the Chatham County coroner, confirmed the findings in a phone interview. 
 
 Wessinger said he based his conclusions on the results of an autopsy by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which has declined to make its report public. The law defines homicide simply as a death caused by another person, but it's a neutral term that doesn't mean a crime was committed. 
 
 Ajibade suffered "about five injuries that were described in their report," Wessinger said. "There were abrasions around the head and a little bit of blood inside the skull case." 
 
 In addition to the head wounds, Ajibade suffered injuries to his upper body, the coroner said. 
 
 "My recollection is none of them by themselves would have necessarily been fatal," he said. 
 
 Ajibade's death certificate is dated May 8. Neither his parents nor their attorneys knew the document had been filed, or what it said about Ajibade's death, until a photograph of it showed up on social media, said Florida attorney Mark O'Mara, who represents the family. 
 
 O'Mara said he didn't know how the death certificate got online and authorities never told the family it had been filed. Under Georgia law, copies of death certificates can be obtained by relatives and their attorneys, but not by the general public. 
 
 "It's really disgusting to me," O'Mara said. "They owe anybody the common decency of letting them know first how their son died." 
 
 St. Lawrence, the sheriff, held a news conference Thursday to discuss jail operations but bluntly told reporters: "I'm not going to discuss the Ajibade case." 
 
 A student at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Ajibade was arrested on domestic violence charges Jan. 1 after a fight with his girlfriend. Sheriff's officials have previously said Ajibade became violent and injured three deputies as he was being booked at the jail. One deputy suffered a concussion and a broken nose, according to the sheriff's office. Ajibade was place in isolation in a restraining chair, where he was later found dead. 
 
 Attorneys for Ajibade's family say he suffered from bipolar disorder and his girlfriend gave police a bottle of his prescription medication when they arrested him. 
 
 O'Mara said he suspects Ajibade was having a manic episode at the jail. 
 
 "I'm sure he was flailing," O'Mara said. "They got control of him and beat the (expletive) out of him to get control of him." ||||| Thursday, June 4, 2015 - 5:39pm 
 
 Chatham County Coroner: Ajibade Death A Homicide 
 
 The Chatham County Sheriff is defending his department’s use of force amidst reports that a young man died of homicide in police custody earlier this year. 
 
 Savannah college student Matthew Ajibade died on Jan. 2 and the Chatham County Detention Center. The sheriff’s office says he “became combative�? while being booked on charges of domestic violence, battery, and resisting arrest. 
 
 A coroner’s report released by an attorney for Ajibade’s family lists the cause of death as homicide by “blunt force trauma.�? 
 
 During a news conference Thursday, Sheriff Al St. Lawrence declined to address the specifics of Ajibade’s death, but defended the department’s use of force such as tasers. He says his officers use them in less than one percent of cases, while more than 40 officers are injured each month. 
 
 "I’m not running a summer camp here; I’m running a prison. And I intend to run it as it should be run," St. Lawrence said. 
 
 At least nine sheriff’s deputies were fired as a result of the Ajibade case and the department has hired a consultant to review its procedures. 
 
 Attorney Will Claiborne, who represents Ajibade's family, says the sheriff's office has been too slow to release information in the case. 
 
 "I expect that all of the people who have committed any criminal act should be charged, that if anyone took steps to enact a policy that allowed this to occur, that that individual be charged," he says. 
 
 The Chatham County District Attorney is still reviewing the case and will decide if criminal charges are warranted. 
 
 A grand jury is expected to begin considering the case on June 24.
– Another high-profile case with allegations of police brutality has surfaced, this time out of Savannah, Ga. The county coroner has ruled the death of local student and 21-year-old Nigerian native Matthew Ajibade a homicide, reports CNN. Ajibade died in police custody on New Year's Day following his arrest on domestic violence charges. Authorities say he resisted arrest and then got combative during booking, with one female deputy suffering a broken nose and a concussion. Deputies put Ajibade in an isolation cell strapped to a chair, and he was later found unresponsive, reports the AP. The coroner's report lists blunt force trauma as the cause of death, and nine deputies have been fired. "There were abrasions around the head and a little bit of blood inside the skull case," says Chatham County Coroner Bill Wessinger. Both stories point out that in this context, homicide means only that another person was involved in the death, and that it wasn't necessarily a crime. Yesterday, Sheriff Al St. Lawrence avoided the specifics of the case but defended the use of force when necessary, reports GPB, saying, "I'm not running a summer camp here; I'm running a prison. And I intend to run it as it should be run." The local district attorney hasn't decided yet whether to file criminal charges. Attorney Mark O'Mara, who is representing Ajibade's family, says a girlfriend told arresting officers that Ajibade had mental health problems and gave them his medication.