No Charges In Death Of Construction Worker At Fairfield University: PD

FAIRFIELD, CT — The investigation into the fatal fall of a 57-year-old roofer in late-May at Fairfield University has been closed by Fairfield police, and the department determined that no charges will be filed.

Police identified the victim who died as Daniel Henderson, of Southington, who suffered "fractures to his ribs, spine and pelvis, two collapsed lungs, and hemorrhaging of the spinal cord" in the early morning fall on May 31, according to the police report obtained by Patch.

Henderson, who was working with other members of his family at the Central Utilities Facilities building, was on the roof, putting on a protective Tyvek suit, when witnesses said he stumbled "backwards as he was attempting to place one of his legs into the protective suit." He then fell backwards through a skylight onto the concrete floor about 40 feet below.

According to police, Henderson "went into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at [St. Vincent's Medical Center]," where he was eventually pronounced dead.

Police said that the university's Facilities Manager, Joseph Simeone, told authorities that the company Henderson worked for, Martin Construction, had done work for the school "for the past 4-5 years and there have never been any issues related to safety, workmanship, payment/billing, or confrontations between workers."

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Henderson and certified that the cause of death "as blunt impact injury of the torso and the manner of death as an accident (fall)," Fairfield police wrote in the report.

He was described as "an able bodied worker and had no health issues" that his boss was aware of.

Henderson's fall was the second through a skylight on that roof in the past several years, but the other fall, for which information was not disclosed, did not result in injuries, according to police.