The Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace

Julia Brightwell, 52 was killed by a customer Johnny Max Mount(45) for doing her job by enforcing the no-smoking policy at a Waffle House. Julia, who had worked for eight years as one of the restaurant’s beloved servers, spent some of her final moments asking patrons how they enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday. Biloxi police officer Donnie Dobbs said, “Johhny had argued with Julia after being told that he couldn’t smoke after that Johhny pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot the woman. She died a short time later. She was shot once in the head.”

12/2/2015 - San Bernardino, CA - At least 14 people were dead and another 17 injured in a shooting Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, when gunmen who were heavily armed and "on a mission" opened fire during a function at a center for people with developmental disabilities, police said. Authorities released the identities of those killed in America's latest mass shooting. Nicholas Thalasinos, 52: worked for the San Bernardino, California County Department of Public Health. Michael Raymond Wetzel, 37: worked as a supervising environmental health specialist for the county’s health department. Larry Daniel Kaufman, 42: A coffee shop manager at the Inland Regional Center. Damien Meins, 58: An employee of the county’s environmental health department. Sierra Clayborn, 27: The health inspector was beloved by her friends and clients in Big Bear City. Heidi Duran, who owns BJ's Restaurant in Big Bear City Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46: an inspector for the health department. Aurora Godoy, 26: Worked for the environmental health department and once studied cooking. Isaac Amanios, 60: an environmental health specialist. Yvette Velasco, 27: an environmental health specialist. Robert Adams, 40: He worked as an environmental health specialist. Tin Nguyen, 31: A health inspector Juan Espinoza, 50: was a health inspector for the county.

12/2/2015 - MIAMI, FL - A Miami construction worker (Rene) was allegedly struck by a piece of equipment while on the job. He did not survive the impact. 7Skyforce flew over the scene of the fatal accident along Northeast Fourth Avenue and 29th Street, Wednesday just after 4 p.m. According to Miami Fire Rescue, the construction worker was hit by equipment being lifted from the ground on the 37th floor of the Biscayne Beach condos, which are under construction. He died at the scene.

12/2/2016 - Lubbock, TX - A tree trimmer was killed in what officials are calling an industrial accident involving a utility line early Wednesday afternoon in Central Lubbock. Bobby Wayne Phillips, 46, was in a bucket lift trimming trees for a private company when he made contact with high-voltage power lines, according to the Lubbock Police Department. Phillips died at the scene.

12/31/2015 - Beverly, OH - John T. Adamo Jr., 57 , the president of Adamo Group, died after his involvement in an Ohio construction accident, a family attorney confirmed to the Free Press today. Adamo's company has been a leading demolition contractor in Detroit for more than a generation and has participated most recently in the city's extensive blight-removal effort. "He has passed away," attorney Christian Hauser said. "It was unexpected." Hauser confirmed the accident happened at the AEP Muskingum River Plant in Beverly, Ohio. The plant was being demolished after closing this summer, according to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Workers at the site were dismantling an old conveyor belt over a waterway when the housing for the belt line fell, injuring two workers who were transported to a local hospital, the release said.

12/7/2015 - Gastonia, NC - A teenager has been killed after being pulled into a wood chipper on his first day in a new job. Mason Scott Cox, 19, was found inside machinery at a tree trimming firm after trying to kick a branch into it and being pulled in. Police believe his death was accidental and no foul play was involved. Mr Scott, from Gastonia, North Carolina, had just started his new job with Crawford Tree Service on Saturday and was clearing a yard in King’s Mountain when he died.

12/4/2015- Robbinsdale, MN - A Rice man is dead after he was run over by a dump truck. The incident happened at about 11:00 a.m. this (Friday) morning on a construction site at Royalton High School, near the bus garage. Morrison County Sheriff Shawn Larsen says 60-year-old Vernon Barthel was backed over by a dump truck that was driven by another worker, 57-year-old Rodney Stanoch of Motely. Barthel was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, where we was later pronounced dead. Larsen says the dump truck was registered to Joes Excavating out of Sartell and both subjects involved in the accident are employees.

12/21/2015 - Murfreesboro, TN -Juan Rodriguez, 40 died afterfalling about 30-feet through a roof panel.

12/18/2015 - Westlake, OH - Mitchel Williams, 33 was crushed when granite slabs fell on top of him at U.S. Marble and Granite on the 800 block of Crocker Road. A big pile of granite just fell on one of the guys, and we can't get it off," one of the callers told a dispatcher. "We're trying to get it off of him," another caller said.

12/19/2015 - BRIDGEPORT, CT - Bridgeport Police are searching for two suspects who fatally shot and killedOscar Martin-Refugio,19 and critically injured his co-worker in an attempted robbery. Forty-one-year-old Humberto Berrera, 41 was shot in the chest and was rushed into surgery at Saint Vincent's Hospital.

12/16/2015 - Chicago, IL - Unable to see the void through thick smoke and the glow of flames, firefighter Daniel Capuano, 42, fell down the elevator shaft as he searched with fellow firefighters for people and the source of the blaze, fire officials said. Capuano, a 15-year veteran of the department, was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead less than two hours later. "It's maddening. It's maddening. It didn't have to happen this way," Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. He said there was nothing around the open shaft to alert firefighters that a hazard was present. "There was no partition, marker or barrier to keep someone from going in the hole or knowing they were approaching the hole. That is wrong," Langford said. "If there was a rope (marking the opening) the firefighter would have touched that rope and froze."

12/16/2015 - Naugatuck, CT - Luis Albaro Ortega-Ortega, 32 was removed from the piece of equipment he was operating. Lt. Bryan Cammarata with the Naugatuck police said. "It appeared that he was crushed in the machine. The circumstances leading up to that are something that we’re still looking at so we don’t have a lot of answers to that at this time."The company employing the worker was subcontracted for tree removal services.

12/14/2015 - West Point, GA - A construction worker has died, nearly one month after he fell from a high ceiling at a south Macon-Bibb County construction site. According to Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, 19-year-old Louis Ramirez, of West Point, Georgia, was pronounced dead at 5:31 P.M. on December 14th, at the Medical Center Navicent Health. Jones said Ramirez died from a closed head injury sustained in the fall. Ramirez was injured on November 19th when he fell from a high ceiling at the Kumho Tire plant under construction at the Sofkee Industrial Park off Highway 247. Marco Lopez was the flight medic onboard the SkyLife helicopter that crashed Thursday in a field in Kern County. No one survived the impact. Before Marco said goodbye, he dropped by Aurora's place to pick up some tools to set up a Christmas tree. "You're still in denial and it'll get to a point where it will hit you but you never know when it will," she said.

12/10/2015 - Fresno, CA - An air ambulance out of Visalia crashed in an isolated area of Kern County Thursday night, killing the crew of three and the critically ill patient they were transporting, officials said.  The cause of the crash is under investigation. Todd Valeri, the head of American Ambulance, identified the pilot and medical staff killed in the crash during a news conference Friday. The pilot was Thomas Hampl, 49, an employee of Rogers Helicopters for three years. The critical-care nurse on the aircraft was Marco Lopez, 42, a three-year SkyLife veteran. And the paramedic on the flight was Kyle Juarez, 37, a nine-year veteran at American Ambulance who spent the last three years on the SkyLife team. Both of the medical staff were from Fresno.

12/7/2015 - Donna, TX - James Geral Gerssinger, 58 was hit and killed by the driver of a truck. Both the victim and the driver were working on a farm owned by J&D Produce.

12/4/2015 - Donaldsonville, LA - Officials have released the name of a contract worker who died after a mysterious incident at a south Louisiana chemical plant, but still don’t know what caused his death. Sulzer Chemtech identified the employee as Teodoro Silva Jr., 30 of Mercedes, Texas. Officials said he had been with the company for almost two years.

12/9/2015 - Columbus, MS - William "Joey" Cooper, 57, a supervisor at Columbus Brick Company, was involved in the accident about 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant. Cooper was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle where he was pronounced dead shortly after 12:30 p.m. Head trauma was the cause of death, according to Merchant. Joe Beall, a spokesperson for the company, confirmed that Cooper had been injured in the company's factory. No other details were released.

12/4/2015 - Hattiesburg, MS - A construction worker was killed Friday afternoon after an accident on the job site. The incident occurred at the former Forrest County Jail, formally known as the Eugene Walters Law Enforcement Complex. According to Forrest County Deputy Coroner Lisa Klem, a man was pronounced dead at the scene where he fell from the rooftop at the construction site. The name of the victim is not being released, pending notification of next of kin and the body will be sent to Jackson for an autopsy. The first two floors of the five-level building, located at 316 Forrest Street are being renovated and will soon house the county’s pre-trial diversion, public defender, drug court and veterans’ court services.