Nov 22, 2009 By Josh Krysak 4 min read

A coroner’s jury recommended this week that state police continue to investigate the death of a Dunbar teen killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident early this year. That recommendation came after a lengthy inquest conducted by the Fayette County Coroner’s office into the March 31 death of Bandon Lee Murphy, 14, who was killed when the ATV he was riding crashed into tree.

State police Cpl. Gerald Pflug said the accident occurred in the early evening on private property near the intersection of Hardy Hill and Dunbar-Ohiopyle roads.

Murphy was not wearing a helmet.

Fayette County Deputy Coroner Marisa Springer pronounced him dead at the scene.

Springer said Murphy died of blunt force trauma to the head and skull fractures. An autopsy was not performed.

During testimony Thursday, it was learned that a group of six or eight people had gathered on the property March 31 and that during the evening, Murphy and David L. Brooks, 21, of Dunbar had decided to race one another on their all-terrain vehicles.

During the race, multiple witnesses testified that Brooks was in the lead throughout and was at least five feet ahead of Murphy when the crash occurred. Witnesses testified that it appeared that Murphy’s vehicle started to slide on some loose gravel and then struck a tree.

However, Pflug noted that three of the people who testified failed to mention a race or Brooks’ name the night of the incident when interviewed by police.

Additionally, Pflug said that investigators did not discover skid marks or slide marks at the site of the crash.

Brooks was then called to testify and admitted that he had consumed some alcohol that day, although he was only 20-years-old at the time.

He told the jury that he didn’t see the crash because Murphy’s ATV was behind him but that when he saw Murphy’s body lying on the ground he fled the area because he was scared.

Richard F. Lowery Jr. of Dunbar testified that Brooks fled to his residence and that he allegedly told Lowery that he might have caused Murphy’s death.

“He showed up and hid his quad behind my camper and said, “I think I killed somebody,”‘ Lowery testified.

According to Lowery, Brooks had been at his home earlier in the day with several of the witnesses to the crash and he noted that they all had been drinking beer.

Pflug read a statement provided to police by Lowery in the hours following the incident.

“He (Brooks) looked really scared and seemed to be in a panic,” Lowery told officers. “He said he just killed a kid because he crashed into his quad while chasing him.”

However, Lowery testified Thursday that he did not remember Brooks telling him that his ATV had struck Murphy’s during the race.

In his testimony, Brooks also denied crashing into the ATV and Pflug said that neither ATV displayed physical evidence of a collision between them.

But Pflug also indicated that Brooks failed a polygraph examination administered by investigators in July regarding questions about whether his ATV was in front of Murphy’s ATV at all times during the race as was testified Thursday and about whether Brooks’ ATV ever struck Murphy’s.

Pflug said Brooks has maintained that he was always ahead of Murphy in the race and their vehicles never touched.

The jury concluded that, “Due to the undetermined culpability of participants – specifically, Mr. Brooks and several witnesses – the hazardous activity of high speed quad racing and questions pertaining to physical evidence presented which is not in agreement with sworn testimony an ongoing investigating by the state police and other agencies is highly recommended and requested by the members of this jury.”