It's a suburb of Chicago.
Manrique's death Oct. 10 sparked a protest that drew more than 500 people and prompted a series of community meetings to address what some residents characterized as decades of police abuse.
Teresa Hernandez, a longtime community activist, said she does not understand how the two responding officers could escape punishment if Manrique's death was ruled a homicide.
"If it's a homicide, why are the state's attorneys doing this?" she said. "It isn't right. I think they should be prosecuted just like anyone who commits a homicide."
Gorman said it is not unusual for a death to be ruled a homicide and not lead to charges.
"It is a medical report, not a legal opinion," he said.
Mayor Donald Peloquin, accused by some Hispanic and African-American residents of marginalizing minorities, said he was glad to see the investigation--handled by the Illinois State Police--completed.
"Until I actually see the report, I don't want to say too much," he said. "It's a tragedy, and we have to use this unfortunate incident and help our community become stronger for it."
Douglas Hoglund, chief of police in the south suburb of roughly 23,000, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Manrique's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Blue Island and its police department in November. The lawsuit alleged that two officers hit Manrique all over his body, including his head, hands, arms, legs, torso, back and neck.
Timothy Tomasik, the attorney who filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of the family, said the medical examiner's findings would help bolster the case.
"We are more confident today than we were in November that we will be able to present a compelling case demonstrating that these officers' outrageous conduct not only violated Mr. Manrique's civil rights, but in fact killed him," he said.
A police report at the time said two officers were called to an alley near Manrique's home to investigate a report of gang graffiti. They found two men, one of whom escaped on a bicycle. The other, identified later as Manrique, appeared to be walking away, ignoring an officer's command to stop.
The police report said Manrique appeared to have dropped a small container on the ground as police approached. One of the officers tackled him and quickly realized he was elderly and spoke no English.
When Manrique was seen shaking, an ambulance was called. The canister contained granulated sugar.
