Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report sheds little light on what may have precipitated the fatal shooting of a Kansas man by a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer.

On Jan. 5, 51-year-old Tyler Miller, of Hutchinson, Kan., was shot and killed by U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer Krista Kuhns near Briar Patch Inn in Oak Creek Canyon.

The autopsy report, released by the medical examiner’s office this week, indicates Miller’s cause of death were two gunshot wounds to the abdomen.

One bullet was from a “distant range” striking his mid-abdomen, one inch left of center, and traveled from front to back slightly downward, perforating Miller’s pancreas, duodenum, inferior vena cava, aorta and vertebral column, striking between the second and third lumbar vertebra. The bullet did not deviate from left to right, likely meaning Miller was facing Kuhns when then first bullet struck him.

The other bullet struck five inches lower and 12 inches left of center, passed from front to back, and from left to right at a downward angle through the abdomen, perforating the descending colon and loops of the small bowel. This bullet’s angle indicates Miller was slightly turned when this bullet hit.

There were no powder burns or soot deposition near the entrance wounds, but some on the body near the second bullet wound, meaning the second shot was fired from an “intermediate range,” at a closer range than the first bullet, according to the autopsy report.

The autopsy also indicated there were two white metal Taser prongs, one in the midline of the lower chest, the other in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen.

Both Taser prongs placed into evidence along with the two bullets recovered from Miller’s body.

The toxicology report indicates there were no illegal substances in Miller’s system. He had a blood-alcohol content of
0.05 percent, below the legal limit of 0.08 percent. The report found nicotine and cotinine, a metabolite of nicotine and tobacco smoke, in Miller’s blood. The toxicology report also noted the presence of naloxone, which is an opioid overdose reversal drug paramedics administer on non-responsive patients as part of standard precedure. However, naloxone only reverses opioid drug overdoses — it has no effect on patients if opioids are not present.

A few hours after the incident, the FBI took over the investigation because the shooting involved a federal officer.

While the FBI has not responded to requests for information since January, Larson Newspapers acquir-ed a 21-page report from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and published the report’s details in a story in February.

According to that report, at 3:46 p.m. on Jan. 5, Kuhns radioed she was on State Route 89A, just north of Briar Patch Inn, where a vehicle had left the road and crashed into the brush.

A white pickup truck heading northbound had crossed the center line and driven up the hill a few yards east of a dirt access road to an APS site.

Kuhns did not see a driver or passengers, but requested an ambulance.

CCSO deputies Christie Lee Loughton and Kyle Walter, public relations officer John Paxton and detective Kelly Barr began heading to the scene from their locations.

At 3:47 p.m., Kuhns radioed that a male subject, later identified as Miller, came out of the vehicle, and was bloody and walking naked southbound on State Route 89A.

Investigators later found Miller’s clothes near the roadway where the access road began.

Walter wrote he heard Kuhns give a description of the man, who was walking southbound naked, and that “in her tone [Kuhns] was shaky and was speaking loudly, consistent with an intense situation.”

At 3:50, Kuhns radioed “shots fired, man down,” according to the report.

After the “shots fired” call came in, Loughten reported numerous Flagstaff area CCSO units responded.

Miller was transported to Verde Valley Medical Center. Kuhns was treated at the scene by Sedona police.

According to an audio transcription, CCSO deputies contacted Miller’s next of kin. The report of CCSO’s contact with Miller’s son reads, “Miller was traveling to Sedona Wellness Center Soul Adventures from Kansas. He reported Miller is going through a separation and has been depressed and acting strange today [Jan. 5] and is worried Miller is suicidal.”

The manager at Sedona Soul Adventures declined to comment in February.

“[The son] tracked Miller’s iPhone to Hwy. 89A. Miller sent texts that were A-typical [sic] about god and getting religious,” the police report stated. “[The son] did not believe Miller has slept in a long time.”