Grappling with their grief, and on the day their son's autopsy report was released, the Parr family agreed to speak with us.

Donald Parr says his son was a good one.

"To me he was. He had my respect and I had his. That's what counts," says a tearful father.

In early December, 45 year old Richard Parr died while in police custody. It began with a family violence call at a Flour Bluff apartment in the 9800 block of SPID. Police arrested two suspects, Parr and another man.

Officers say Parr tried to run from them, and then once captured, became agitated and began spitting at officers. Police Chief Bryan Smith says the officers pepper sprayed him, and fearing they would catch a communicable disease from Parr's saliva placed a protective covering, known as a spit guard over his face.

"The reason why he took off because he was worried he had old tickets or old warrant, and he didn't want to leave me by myself, because I'm paralysed from here down," says Lori Huntsinger.

Lori was living with Rick at the time of his death. She's now staying with his parents while they try to find a rehabilitation facility for their son's girlfriend.

According to the Nueces County Medical Examiner's official autopsy report, 45 year old Richard Parr died accidentally, caused by a combination of Methamphetamine and alcohol. He also had an enlarged heart, cirrhosis of the liver...and Hepatitis B and C.

Carolyn Parr, Rick's mother, says her son suffered from ashma, had a difficult time even speaking.

"If anything comes out of this, I'd like to see the police department, give police officers more education on medical, on the use of the pepper spray," says Parr.

Corpus Christi Police Chief Bryan Smith says the department is constantly re-evaluating their policies. They've begun crisis intervention training, but that the use of less lethal weapons like pepper spray or tasers do prevent death and serious bodily injury.

"At this point there are no red flags that the officers did anything wrong," says Chief Smith.

Despite the Medical Examiner's report, the Parr family doesn't believe Rick was on drugs. They do not believe it was an accident.

Since the autopsy report is complete, investigators plan to present the case to the Nueces County District Attorney's office. District Attorney Carlos Valdez says it is his office's policy, no matter the circumstances, to take the case before a grand jury and let the panel decide.