• Terrence Richmond, 56, collapsed, fell, and died during a hike near Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, on August 29, 2019. His mother, Annette Wedington, said she was told he died of a heart attack.
  • But an autopsy she obtained from the Dominican Republic’s National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) showed he also had fluid in his lungs and a cracked skull.
  • Wedington said she believes there was a struggle before his death, and now wants more answers.
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The mother of a New York man who died on a hike in the Dominican Republic has accused authorities of ‘lying’ about her son’s cause of death, which they say was a heart attack.

Terrence Richmond, 56, collapsed, fell, and died, during a hike near Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, on August 29, 2019, CBS Baltimore reported. The Bronx teacher was on vacation when he died.

His mother, Annette Wedington, said she was told her son died of a heart attack, but she believes there was a struggle before his death.

“He was beaten because his knuckles were bruised all up,” Wedington, from Baltimore, Maryland, told CBS Baltimore. “He had a fractured skull and he had a bruise on his back like he had been kicked.”

Wedington said she decided to speak out after several other families came forward to speak about relatives who had died while at staying all-inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic.

She said that while officials told her Richmond died of a heart attack, an autopsy she obtained from the Dominican Republic's National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) showed he also had fluid in his lungs and a cracked skull.

Read more: 14 suspicious cases of tourists getting sick, assaulted, and dying in the Dominican Republic in the past year

INSIDER has contacted the Dominican Republic's Attorney General's Office for comment.

"He was healthy," Wedington said of her son. "I know they're lying. I just want closure."

In an interview with the "TODAY" show, Wedington said her son coached gymnastics and was in shape.

She said she paid $4,000 to bring his body back to the United States, and another $1,000 to get his son's backpack, wallet and camera from officials.

Officials held on to her son's body for a month, Wedington said.

Dominican Republic's tourism minister, Francisco Javier Garcia, told CNN last week that all of the deaths are isolated incidents.

"Investigation into them is a top priority for us and for the National Police. We are asking them to deploy all resources to help provide answers as quickly as possible," he said.

The tourism industry accounted for more than 17% of the Dominican Republic's economy in 2017, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.