Mississippi man who awakened inside body bag dies

LEXINGTON, Miss. — A 78-year-old Mississippi man has died two weeks after he woke up in a body bag at a funeral home after being mistakenly pronounced dead, a coroner said.

Holmes County Coroner Dexter Howard said Walter Williams died at his home in Lexington about 1 a.m. Thursday. The cause was not released.

Williams' story went viral after he was pronounced dead Feb. 26. Workers at Porter and Sons Funeral Home were getting ready to embalm him when Williams started to move.

The father of 11, grandfather of 15, and great-grandfather of six had gone into hospice in late February because of congestive heart failure. He was declared dead by a coroner the first time when neither the coroner nor others, including nurses, could find a pulse.

Williams was rushed to a hospital and released a few days later. Doctors say a mix of medicines may have caused his vital signs to appear unresponsive.

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