PHOENIX (CBS5) -
An Arizona mother is asking for her son's death investigation to be reopened following a nine-month investigation by two independent experts she hired.
"It's been a soul-searing time, to lose Max and then have to go through this every single day to try to find out what happened to him," Dina Shacknai said.
Dina Shacknai told CBS 5 news on Monday that her son Max deserves justice. She presented evidence to Coronado police and the San Diego Medical Examiner's office that she claims refutes the ruling that her son's death was "accidental."
"That didn't make a lot of sense to me, given the multiple planes of injury on Maxie's body, and the different various stories," Shacknai said.
Max Shacknai died last July after falling from the second floor of a mansion on Coronado Island near San Diego, CA.
He was staying with his father, Jonah Shacknai, a prominent Valley businessman, and Jonah's girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau.
Zahau, who was watching Max at the time, was found naked, bound and hanging from a balcony of the home a few days later. Investigators ruled her death a suicide.
Dina Shacknai said at the news conference last month that she had spoken with her ex-husband about concerns she had with Zahau. She said she did not believe Zahau should care for her child.
After Max Shacknai's death was ruled accidental, Dina Shacknai hired Dr. Judy Melinek, a board certified forensic pathologist, and Dr. Robert T. Bove Jr., an expert in injury biomechanics, who began their investigating.
Dr. Bove concluded because of Max's center of gravity, impact with the staircase railing, even at high speeds, would not allow him to fall over the banister, even if he was 4 inches taller, standing on a skateboard.
The expert hired by the Coronado Police shows Max falling over the banister, grabbing the chandelier, bouncing off the opposite railing before hitting the ground.
Dina Shacknai said the marks on Max's back tell a different story. "They were abrasions, and that didn't make sense with a bounce off of a banister."
Also Max's hands showed no signs of injury from grabbing the chandelier on his way down. The latest investigation also concluded he first hit the ground with the top of his head, and not his legs, as shown in the diagram.
Dina Shacknai is hopeful this new information will convince the Coronado police department to take another look at her son's death.
"Real science doesn't lie. I believe that they, after reviewing the information, they will do the right thing and open the case," Dina Shacknai said.
Stay with cbs5az.com and CBS 5 News for updates on this developing story.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
© CBS 5
Dina Shacknai during a news conference last month announcing a non-profit she's starting in her son's honor.
