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Officials with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) on Wednesday announced the results of their investigation into the death of an Evergreen College student last December. According to KING5 News, the WSP determined that Jonathan Rodriguez’s death, initially believed to be a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, was “tragic, yet avoidable.” Rodriguez, a 21-year-old student at Evergreen State College at the time of his death, was found unresponsive in the school’s student housing facility on December 11th, 2023. Two other unnamed students were also hospitalized, along with an Evergreen State College police officer who fell ill after responding to the scene. The WSP investigation found that the ultimate cause of the carbon monoxide leak was a tankless water heater that had been improperly installed approximately one week prior to the Rodriguez’s death. Investigators also discovered that the building’s carbon monoxide alarms had been triggered earlier that morning and were turned off by maintenance personnel, who operated “under the assumption that the alarms sounding was due to faulty alarms and not an actual CO leak.” Rodriguez was exposed to a fatal level of concentrated carbon monoxide, according to the WSP’s findings report. You can see the WSP’s Timeline of Events in PDF format below:
The most important step after a serious incident like the one that occurred at Evergreen State College last December is an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident to determine all contributing factors and responsible parties. There remains a lot of work to be done to fully investigate this incident, but the Washington State Patrol also shares some important details in their findings report. Filing a wrongful death lawsuit may be the most expeditious and effective way to hold the responsible parties legally accountable for Mr. Rodriguez’s death. WSP’s investigators found that “there was a lack of training and/or understanding of the functions of the Fire Alarm/CO systems by TESC employees and residence maintenance personnel.” A reasonable person might find that this lack of training contributed to the maintenance staff’s decision to deactivate the alarms and assume they were malfunctioning, rather than take the alarms seriously. The college has pledged up to $1 million for expenses to upgrade equipment and maintenance upgrades for its student housing facilities. The authors of the report also noted that the tankless water heater which was installed shortly before this fatal incident was not installed properly according to the installation instructions, which led to suboptimal intake and exhaust venting. It would be important to determine whether the school or a third-party company was responsible for the installation of the tankless water heater. Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers has spent the past 30+ years representing the surviving loved ones of wrongful death victims, including several carbon monoxide poisoning cases. Our team of experienced attorneys are above the rest when it comes to properly building catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases and generating exceptional results for our clients. Call (206) 727-4000 today to request a free consultation with our award-winning wrongful death lawyers, or use the confidential contact form on this page.
If you’ve been injured in Seattle, WA, and need legal assistance, contact Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers. Contact our legal team and schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer today. We proudly serve King County in Washington and it’s surrounding areas. Visit our law office at:
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