By Brent Briggeman, The Gazette
Former Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis’ blood alcohol content measured nearly three times the legal limit when he was killed in a traffic crash in suburban Atlanta in August.
That was the finding in the Gwinnett County medical examiner’s report provided to The Gazette on Tuesday.
Dowis died from blunt-force trauma to the left side of the chest, examiner Dr. Carol A. Terry concluded. Dowis was not wearing a seat belt and separate samples tested by the state crime laboratory showed blood-alcohol levels of .210 and .233. The legal limit in Georgia is .08 percent. The blood specimen tested negative for amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates and other drugs.
Dowis was traveling the wrong way on Interstate 85 in a white 2014 BMW at about 5 a.m. on Aug. 29 when he entered the median and began to back up, according to the report. As he backed up he was struck in the driver’s side door by a silver Subaru. The driver of the Subaru was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Dowis expressed to a friend shortly before his death that he feared he was “losing his mind due to the concussions he suffered while playing football,” the report states.