Judge Orders Release of Autopsy Photos in Shacknai Death

A San Diego Superior Court judge on Friday granted Max Shacknai's mother access to photos taken during the autopsy that followed the boy's July death.

Dina Shacknai, an Arizona resident, , after officials refused an earlier request for the photos.

In the initial April 10 hearing in the case, to the release of the photos.

In his tentative ruling, Judge John S. Meyer said no opposition was submitted on Shacknai's request. Attorneys for Shacknai and the county did not appear in Meyer's court Friday when he finalized his order.  

The , two days before his father, Jonah Shacknai – Dina Shacknai's ex-husband – suffered another loss. His girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, 32, was found dead, nude and bound, on the property.

The boy succumbed to head injuries three days after Zahau's death, which the San Diego County Sheriff's Department determined was a suicide by hanging.

Detectives announced . Coronado police said the boy's injuries were due to an accidental fall. Investigators argue that Zahau's decision to end her life was due to her despair over the boy's prognosis.

Zahau's family has protested the suicide finding. Jonah Shacknai publically credited the authorities for their handling of the investigation.

Dina Shacknai's pursuit of the photos follows her sister's concerns, expressed in an interview last year, that their side of the family may have more questions about how the child died.