Fayette coroner issues report for September, October
In reports issued for September and October, Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly reported one homicide in the county. Jerry Cook, 30, of Uniontown was killed on Oct. 19 by Darnell Poole, who then turned the gun on himself, said police. The men were arguing at a Uniontown apartment when the shooting occurred.
The death of Poole, 25, accounts for one of the five attributed to suicides in the two-month period.
Reilly listed two deaths in September resulting from vehicle accidents, one from a utility cart accident and the other from a 2-vehicle accident. There were no vehicular fatalities in October.
Under the heading of accidental deaths, Reilly listed a total of four drug overdose deaths in the two months. Additionally, he listed a house fire death in September.
The coroner also listed 11 natural deaths in September and October from heart disease and other conditions.
In the two months, Reilly scheduled 18 autopsies: for Harry Marks, Andrew Lackemacher, Robert DeVault Jr., Gerald Cook I, Ronald Evans, Darnell Poole, Kenneth Lewis, Duane Martin, Edward Thomas, Bruce Balsega, Amanda Bodkin, Donald Basinger, Carlo Ross, Scott Zagata, Harry Basinger, Gilbert VanNorman III, Joseph Verbus and Robert Santore.
Reilly held seven inquests during the two months. They involved the deaths of Mark Cramer, James Martin Loy, Charles W. Tedrow Jr., Emerson Snyder, William Rockwell Jr., Darlene Fay House Redman and William Snyder. The two months of inquests cost a total of $260.22.
The coroner’s office generally holds inquests monthly. The process employs six jurors, plus, generally, two alternates who hear the facts surrounding all unnatural deaths and determine the cause and manner of each death. Reilly is the only coroner in the state to hold inquests regularly.
Regionally in that two-month period, the office investigated 7 deaths in Uniontown, 3 in Connellsville, 2 each in Springhill and North Union townships and 1 each in Fairchance, Arnold City, Belle Vernon, Dawson and Dunbar, South Union, Henry Clay, Wharton, Bullskin and Nicholson townships.
In a special note, the office investigated another 47 deaths in September and October that were natural in cause. Those certificates were referred to the family physician for the purpose of accuracy and completeness. Because the deaths were natural, the coroner’s office did not investigate them further.