N.C. Hotel Deaths Update: Medical examiner resigns after carbon monoxide kills 3, months apart, in same room
(CBS) BOONE, N.C. - A North Carolina medical examiner has resigned after it was determined he withheld his finding that carbon monoxide killed an elderly couple in a Boone, N.C. hotel room two months ago, CBS affiliate WBTV reports.
An 11-year-old boy died of the same cause, in the same hotel room, earlier this month. His 49-year-old mother, Jeannie Williams, was rushed to a hospital and survived.
A source from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to the station that Dr. Brent Hall, the pathologist who performed autopsies on Daryl and Shirley Jenkins, resigned his post.
Documents uncovered by WBTV show the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner discovered on June 1 that carbon monoxide may have killed 72-year-old Shirley Jenkins.
That was seven days before 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams died of asphyxia due to carbon monoxide exposure while staying in the same room at the Best Western Hotel in Boone.
READ: Hotel deaths highlight often undetected killer
Investigators reportedly say they had been requesting the results of the Jenkins' autopsies from the State Medical Examiner's office for weeks but got no response.
It wasn't until after Williams' death that test results were made public showing both Shirley Jenkins and Daryl Jenkins, 73, died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Last week, state and federal inspectors say they traced the source of the carbon monoxide to a leak in a pool water heater directly under room 225, where all three died.
The ventilation system reportedly had several deficiencies, as well as corrosion. The heater in question hadn't been inspected since the hotel was built in 2000, the station reports. Officials told the station there is nothing that requires the heater to be inspected.
The station also reports that carbon monoxide detectors are not required in hotels located in North Carolina.
Police officials say authorities have been in contact with the District Attorney's Office and police have not ruled out possible charges, according to the station.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has issued a statement calling the deaths a "tragedy that should have never happened." They say they are continuing to gather facts and are working with local officials to "identify measures to ensure tragedies like this never happen again."