BOONE, N.C. — A county medical examiner resigned Friday after the Boone hotel deaths. Boone's police chief told Eyewitness News how a crucial piece of evidence could have saved an 11-year-old boy's life.
All three victims died from a silent killer in room 225 at the Best Western: carbon monoxide gas. It killed Daryl and Shirley Jenkins back in April and 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams on Saturday.
When Williams and his mother checked into Room 225 at the Best Western in Boone, they didn't know an elderly couple had died in that same room just months before or that they were killed by dangerous carbon monoxide gas leaking into their room. Eyewitness News learned that police did not know either.
New documents released to Channel 9 unfolded this timeline: Daryl and Shirley Jenkins died on April 16.
The state completed its toxicology report proving carbon monoxide killed Shirley on June 1.
And, even though Boone police requested that report "weeks before," officers didn't receive it until June 10, two days too late to prevent Jeffrey Williams' death.
"I can't speculate as to why we didn't get them," Police Chief Dana Crawford said.
But for the first time, Crawford did reveal those documents could have saved Williams' life.
"I would like to think we would have been able to conclude and find the source of that carbon monoxide, and with that information, been able to rectify that whole situation before this happened," Crawford said.
Crawford says if his department knew there was a carbon monoxide death in that room, his department would have worked with fire officials to find the leak. After Williams' death, it took investigators just hours to trace it back to a pool water heater.
The state told Channel 9 it did give the toxicology report to the Watauga County medical examiner, Dr. Brent Hall, a week before Williams' death. But police said Hall never passed that report to them.
Within an hour of reporting this timeline, state officials told Channel 9 that Hall resigned from his position.
Friday, Eyewitness News called, emailed and went to Hall's home to find out if he did receive the toxicology report on June 1. Eyewitness News has not heard back yet.
Search warrants reveal what first responders saw last weekend
Channel 9 received documents Friday that show what police took out of the room where the three people died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty went over the search warrant that revealed what first responders saw last weekend when they arrived at the scene.
According to the search warrant, firefighters knew that day that the poisonous gas was in the hotel room after using testing equipment.
Police removed two 5-foot sections of an exhaust pipe that came from the pool water heater, located below the room.
Officials also took the maintenance records for that room and a binder of the records for the pool area.
Part of the search warrant described how lesions were found on Jeffrey Williams' mother, who was found unconscious in the room, which made emergency officials question whether additional toxins were possibly in the room.
Channel 9 also learned the Washington State attorney for the elderly couple who died in April was in Boone Friday.
He wanted to see the court documents that Channel 9 obtained.
He also said he was allowed into the hotel room where the three people died.
"I'm representation the Jenkins family and I wanted to see it firsthand. I think it is pretty obvious at this point that it is carbon monoxide poisoning and rarely is that something that couldn't be avoided," said attorney Mark Brumbaugh.
Channel 9 tried to contact the attorney representing the hotel, but were told that he was not available for comment.
The funeral for Jeffrey Williams was held Sunday at the First Baptist Church on Dave Lyle Boulevard. For more information on his funeral, click here.
For the update to this story from Monday, click here.
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