Inquest to study fire fatalities
A panel of Fayette County Coroner’s jurors will hold an inquest this afternoon to recommend whether or not criminal charges are warranted in a Dec. 14 fire that took the lives of three youngsters in Washington Township. The fire broke out in a Marion Villa apartment, where 3-year-old Tomas S. Long, and siblings 8-month-old Rebecca Ohler and 2-year-old Gerald F. Younkin III were staying, reportedly unsupervised.
Margie Povlik, 30, was Long’s mother. When the fire broke out, she and a friend were visiting neighbors, according to police.
Povlik reportedly resided in the apartment with Long and two other sons. Her other boys, ages 12 and 14, were not at the apartment when the fire broke out.
The day of the fire, Younkin, Ohler and their mother, Billie Jo Ohler of South Connellsville, were visiting Povlik. Shane Shipley, 13, was also at the apartment when the fire broke out. He escaped the burning apartment through a second-story window and was treated for injuries.
It was unclear why Shipley was at the apartment or if he was related to any of the occupants or visitors.
Jurors will hear more detailed evidence about what happened the day of the fire, and can recommend criminal charges be filed against the women who left the children at the apartment unsupervised.
District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon said a member of her office – most likely special child abuse prosecutor Jack R. Heneks Jr. – will attend the inquest.
The inquest process uses six jurors plus two alternates. That panel is presented the facts surrounding the death of an individual and ultimately determines the cause and manner of death. Also in the scope of their authority is the power to recommend criminal charges.
Last month, jurors recommended that the Fayette County District Attorney’s office further examine the hypothermia death of a 5-month-old who died in a car while his parents were at a party in the mountains.
Michael and Jennifer King, the parents of Jonathan King, have not been charged, although Vernon said she and Heneks are continuing to look into the case.
Before the Kings, jurors last recommended filing charges against Christina and Michael Britt, whose 2-year-old son, Cody, died of hyperthermia in 1999. The toddler got into the family’s car, which was parked outside their home, and closed himself in on a hot day. The Britts, who were night shift workers, were sleeping.
Michael and Christina Britt were convicted of involuntary manslaughter last year. Christina Britt received a probationary sentence, and Michael Britt served a brief time in jail before being released early and admitted to probation too.