Mysterious death of federal prosecutor on Hollywood beach ruled a suicide

The death of a federal prosecutor whose body washed up on a Hollywood beach more than two months ago with a gunshot wound to the head has been ruled a suicide, the Hollywood Police Department said Thursday.

Beranton J. Whisenant Jr., 37, had just started a new job in the Miami office of the U.S. attorney in January when his body was found floating in the surf on May 24. His death stunned family members, friends and colleagues who had remembered him as a passionate man dedicated to his legal work and public service.

Hollywood police said detectives and the Broward medical examiner determined Whisenant “died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound” before his body was discovered just south of Magnolia Terrace on Hollywood beach. It did not say why the investigation took so long to determine the cause of death. The probe was handled by Hollywood police after the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI dismissed any connection to Whisenant’s job or previous cases.

P/C PIXABAY CC