Inquest set in police shooting death
A Sept. 30 inquest will be held in hopes of shedding additional light on the police shooting death of Kermith Sonnier Jr. Elsie Dvorchak of the Fayette County coroner’s office confirmed the date of the 9:30 a.m. inquest and said it will be held in courtroom three at the courthouse.
A representative from the county district attorney’s office will be on hand, but Margaret Philbin of the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh could not confirm if someone from that office will attend. The office is conducting a tandem investigation of the shooting.
“I can’t comment on the specifics of any investigation,” Philbin said.
Sonnier, a 37-year-old Louisiana native, was fatally shot May 5 after a brief police chase through the village of Century near Brownsville. He was the living in the Brownsville area at the time of the shooting.
The only detailed information about the case has come from District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, who recounted the police version of events in June. Vernon said Brownsville police officer Autumn Fike saw Sonnier pulled over in a place known for illegal drug activity and tried to talk to him, but he fled the scene and led police on a 6.1-mile chase.
Fike reportedly had asked Sonnier to leave the same area the day before, and he did so without incident.
When Sonnier fled May 5, Fike ran a check on his license plate and it came back suspended. As she pursued him, Fike called for backup, prompting Redstone Township police Capt. H. Dennis Field and officer Josh Mrosko, who were patrolling together, to respond, Vernon said.
The men tried to block Sonnier’s pickup truck with their police vehicle, Vernon said, but Sonnier hit their vehicle. Centerville Borough police also joined in the chase, which continued through residential areas of Brownsville before returning to Century.
When Sonnier turned down a dead-end road, police followed on foot. Sonnier apparently turned his truck around and headed toward police, when either a log or the truck itself hit Fike and she flew through the air, Vernon said.
The force of the impact was so powerful, Vernon said, that an imprint of Fike’s gun belt was left in the dirt.
Authorities believe that, after seeing Fike fly through the air and the truck coming toward Field and Mrosko, Field fired two shots at the vehicle.
A police investigation revealed that one bullet hit the truck, and the other apparently hit the window, causing the fatal wound to Sonnier. Authorities believe the bullet hit him in the back and nicked both of Sonnier’s lungs, Vernon said.
Sonnier apparently stopped the truck a short distance away, and when police realized he had been hit, they immediately called for help, Vernon said.
Sonnier’s father, Kermith Sr., said formerly that he is concerned about possible political bias because Fike and Field are members of the county’s drug task force, which Vernon heads in her capacity as district attorney.
At the inquest, a panel of six jurors and two alternates will hear evidence in the case, along with testimony from the people involved about what happened. Since the police officers involved can be represented by lawyers, they have the option not to testify if so advised.
After jurors hear the evidence, they will deliberate and rule on the cause and manner of the death. The manner of the death can be homicide, suicide, accidental or undetermined. Depending on the ruling, jurors also can make recommendations, which could include the filing of charges.
Prosecutors, however, are not bound by any recommendations jurors make.