The Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

As always, we give our condolences to those who have lost a loved one to a workplace incident. If we can help you in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have experienced a workplace death and are here for you.


May 1, 2015 - Norcross, GA - 52 year old Wade Frank Blackwell of Loganville, GA was attempting to adjust a window sill in the attic of a building under renovation. He died when he fell from the window. He was a self employed contractor.




May 1, 2015 - Houghton City, MI - 48 year old Frank Morin Jr. was an employee for Houghton City and was struck and killed by the unoccupied dump truck that he was performing a brake check on. A second worker was injured in the incident but was treated and released from the hospital.


May 1, 2015 - Freer, TX - 38 year old Nestor Lerma Jr. was killed on the job when he fell into a point of operation of a drill cable line. He was an employee for H & K Well Service LLC of Freer.



 May 5, 2015 - Woodstock, IL - 57 year old Michael Mouroukas of Hawthorne Woods was a contractor working on construction of the new Harley-Davidson motorcycle store in Woodstock when he fell through a hole in the second story of the building. He was employed by R & M Contractors.

May 5, 2015 - St. Louis, MO - David Herrera Orozco was working for a landscape company when he was fatally struck by a tree limb during work. Attempts to find more information was not found. He was employed by Brake Landscaping & Lawncare Inc.

May 6, 2015 - Newark, NJ - 51 year old James Mahoney of Atco was killed on the job when he fell down an elevator shaft. He was the manager with Tricon Enterprises, Inc. and was working to demolish a building. Mahoney and his wife, who also works Tricon, were both working to remove asbestos on the building's second floor when he somehow fell down the shaft.

May 7, 2015 - Milwaukee, WI - 49 year old Andres Marin selling ice cream from a pedal cart on the street when he was struck by a motorist who struck another vehicle that was attempting to make a turn. Marin was employed by Pateteria Montealban LLC.



May 7, 2015 - Westover, MD - 53 year old Robert Andres Tamargo died on the job when he was electrocuted when he touch energized parts of switch gear. He was employed by General Electric International Inc.


May 8, 2015 -Auburndale, WI - 29 year old Michael Ray Brock of Vesper was working under a semi truck when the jack under the truck failed and it fell onto Brock, crushing him. He was employed by Dorshorst Trucking & Excavating LLC in Auburndale.



May 8, 2015 - Enterprise, AL - 52 year old Earl Kenny Grandberry, Sr. of Troy was trimming trees using a bucket truck when he fell from the bucket. It is not clear how or why he fell. He was an employee of Tolbert Tree Service & Stump Grinding out of Enterprise.

May 8, 2015 - Surrency, GA - 30 year old Carlos Lopez-Rodriguez of Jesup was working for Southeastern Gin Inc. of Surrency when he was killed after being struck by a falling fan shroud. Attempts to find more information have been unsuccessful.

May 9, 2015 - Sheffield Village, OH - 54 year old Timothy Allen Murphy of Elyria died on the job after falling from the outside of a tower. He fell doing his normal duties using a hose, but he apparently lost his balance and fell. He was employed by Quasar Energy Group of Sheffield Lake, OH.


May 16, 2015 - Augusta, GA - Ricardo Ramirez Aguas was working with a crew on a home construction project when he fell from the second story. He had just delivered water bottles to a framing crew on the second floor when he fell, striking his head on the concrete floor below. He was a native of Mexico and did not speak English. He was working for Noe Martinez.



May 19, 2015 - Lewis County, WV - 24 year old Jacob Wayne McClain of French Creek died in a logging incident when he was struck by a felled tree. He was cutting a tree down, when that tree fell into another tree which fell in an unexpected direction and he was struck. It is not known who his employer was.


May 20, 2015 - Dallas, TX - 60 year old Bernard Armstrong was part of a road crew when he was struck and killed by a drunk motorist. He had been driving a "crash cushion" truck behind a garbage truck but was standing beside the truck on the shoulder when he was hit. 


May 22, 2015 - Guilderland, NY - 54 year old Sean McCutcheon of Schenectady was a 19 year employee for the Guilderland Department of Public Works/Highway Department. He was riding on a compactor truck picking up yard debris when he fell from the truck as it was backing up.



 
May 23, 2015 - Longmont, CO - 21 year old Taylor Joseph Thyfault of Mead was a Colorado State Patrol Cadet was on scene of an accident when he was struck by a motorist. The motorist was fleeing Troopers in an unrelated incident when Thyfault screamed for the tow truck driver at the accident scene to "get off the road", which the driver feels saved his life. Unfortunately Thyfault was killed in the incident. Another Trooper who was also on the scene of the previous accident was hurt and taken to a hospital.

May 24, 2015 - New Orleans, LA - 45 year old James Bennett, Jr. was an officer for the New Orleans Housing Authority when he was shot while sitting in his patrol car. He was shot while he was providing security for a construction site. Authorities do not have a motive or suspect but are conducting an investigation.




May 25, 2015 - Rio Rancho, NM - 49 year old Greg Benner was an officer for the Rio Rancho Police Department when he was shot to death during a routine traffic stop. Officer Benner made a traffic stop but the driver sped away after giving conflicting information. The driver had an active arrest warrant. After the driver took off, Benner was able to stop the driver again. At that time the suspect opened fire on Officer Benner. The police were able to arrest the suspect.



May 25, 2015 - Minneapolis, MN - 29 year old Tyrell Ladd Anderson of Gering, NE was killed on the job after being struck by a train car. He was unloading track material when a locomotive passing on another track hit the material, causing it to fall on top of Anderson. He was an employee for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad.


May 25, 2015 - Hattiesburg, MS - 53 year old Sgt. Iris Janett Smith of Lucedale was killed on the job when the prison van she was driving drove into the back of a semi truck. She was going to escort an inmate from one hospital to another. Smith was a correctional officer for South Mississippi Correctional Institution. 

May 26, 2015 - Grand Forks, ND - 70 year old Gregory Weiland was an employee for a WalMart store in Grand Forks when an airman from the nearby Air Force Base showed up and began shooting. Weiland was hit by the gunfire and another employee was also injured but released from the hospital. Police do not think there is a link between the airman and the victims.



May 26, 2015 - Bloomington, IL - 56 year old John G. Hoeniges was a maintenance mechanic for McClean County when he was killed in an elevator incident. The incident was not witnessed but he could have been struck by an elevator counter weight. He was working at the McClean County Law and Justice Center.

May 26, 2015 - Onondaga, NY - 53 year old Christopher Hamelinck was an elevator mechanic for Otis Elevator Company when he was killed on the job. He was working in an elevator shaft at a central New York nursing home when another elevator came down, pinning him between a steel ladder and a support beam.


May 26, 2015 - Shawano, WI - 30 year old Derek T. Stempa was part of a road construction crew, his duties being a flagger. He died on the job after being struck by a motorist in the construction zone. It is not known who he was employed by.



May 27, 2015 - Elgin, NE - 40 year old Thomas L. Bales of Denver, CO was killed on the job when the 90 ton crane he was operating rolled into a field. The crane too near the edge of a road when it overturned. He was working on the Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center for Invenergy. His employer was Tradesman International but was working for Wanzek Construction, Inc. 

May 28, 2015 - Zilwaukee, MI - 50 year old Steve Rivera died on the job when he was crushed under a concrete beam as it was being transferred from one work station to another. He was working for Stress-Con Industries. 

May 28, 2015 - Edwardsville, IL - 47 year old Roger Kolweier of O'Fallon was killed in an incident while working at the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville campus. He was repaving Stadium Drive for Keller Construction when a piece of construction equipment broke loose. It rolled down an embankment and hit and killed him.