ANDERSON — An autopsy was expected to be performed Thursday to determine what killed a rural Alexandria man who crashed the car he was driving into a city church Wednesday.

Police were called to the intersection of Ninth Street and Madison Avenue on a report of a man crashing his car into the church at the southeast corner shortly before 9 a.m.

Officials with the Madison County Coroner’s Office said John M. Pearson, 58, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Saint John’s Medical Center. They didn’t believe his death was caused by trauma related to the crash. Instead, it was likely attributed to an underlying medical condition. An autopsy was expected to be performed on Pearson today at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie to determine his cause of death.

Anderson police Detective Mitch Carroll, department spokesman, said Pearson was southbound on Madison when he veered, went over the curb and struck the building.

Carroll couldn’t immediately identify the church, saying that it had had several owners. He also couldn’t say what type of car Pearson was driving, but he was the vehicle’s only occupant.

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What’s next?

An autopsy was expected to be performed Thursday on rural Alexandria resident John M. Pearson, 58, who crashed into an Anderson church Wednesday. Officials with the Madison County Coroner’s Office suspect an underlying medical condition caused his death, and not any trauma associated with the crash.