Firefighter testifies on discovering the bodies of the Coonrod children WATCH THE VIDEO
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
As a firefighter described discovering the lifeless bodies of Thomas and Stephen Coonrod "face-up in the closet" Wesley Coonrod broke down, covering his eyes with his hand and quietly sobbing during the second day of testimony in his capital murder trial in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
Later, he wiped his eyes with a tissue as a former EMT described how when she looks at her own 5-year-old child, "I see their faces. Every time I get a quiet moment I see their faces."
Coonrod is being tried on charges of aggravated homicide in the deaths of his two sons. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
James Thompson, a firefighter with the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District testified Friday that he and another firefighter were the first emergency personnel on scene to the fire March 7 on Lafayette Street in Greenfield. Thompson testified that as they began to make entry to the structure, which had smoke pouring out of it, the room "flashed over."
When a fire "flashes," he said, everything in the room reaches its ignition point and catches fire at the same time, and causes an explosion-like scenario. When the room "flashed," Thompson said he dove back out onto the porch. They then re-entered the structure, but he had to then exit due to an equipment issue. Within a matter of seconds, Thompson testified, he re-entered the home, and crawled along the right side of the wall, eventually entering a bedroom. Inside the bedroom he located a closet door, where he found Thomas and Stephen.
"Upon opening the door, I found the boys, face-up in the closet," Thompson said. "I signaled that I had found the victims. I picked up a child and handed him to another firefighter. I went back and picked up the second child."
Upon exiting the burning home, Thompson said he placed the child, 4-year-old Thomas, on the ground and began CPR. In less than a few minutes, the ambulance had arrived.
Thompson testified that the fire that night was unusual from others he had experienced in that instead of gradually getting warmer through their bunker gear, he immediately felt very hot, hotter than he remembered being in a fire before. He said that he could feel the heat from the floor through his pants, and that he later found out that the carpet had melted onto his pants.
On Thursday, defense attorneys William Mooney and Jerry McHenry questioned property owner Matthew Unger and carpet merchant Judy McCarty regarding the carpet in the structure. Unger had purchased carpet less than a year before the fire from the Greenfield Carpet Outlet. McCarty testified that the carpet he purchased met Federal Housing Administration standards and testing regarding flammability. On Cross examination, Unger said that he had not purchased a new carpet pad and he could not testify whether or not that pad met those standards. Unger said the pad most likely had been installed by the bank he purchased the property from a few years earlier. Unger also testified that the windows in the apartment were tightly built and that the only complaint he had ever had on the windows was that they were sometimes hard to raise. He also said that he had tested the smoke alarm sometime in the eight months prior to Coonrod moving in to the apartment.
After Thompson completed his testimony, EMT Jessica Harris took the stand and said that she was in the ambulance and had just arrived to the scene when the firefighters informed her they were doing a "load and go" and handed them the child. After waiting for Coonrod to enter the front passenger seat of the squad, Harris testified, they were driven to Adena Greenfield Area medical center, with EMTs performing CPR.
When asked to describe Thomas Coonrod's appearance, Harris paused for a moment.
"A dead baby. He had soot on his face, around his mouth and nose. He had what appeared to be a burn (on his face). Pale. Lifeless. He had soot on his hands. He had soot on his face, around his mouth, around his nose, what appear to be a burn (on his cheek and on his shoulder)."
Harris had been an EMT for approximately a year, she testified, when the March 7 fire occurred. She is no longer an active EMT.
"How has this affected you?" asked Assistant Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins.
"How hasn't it affected me," Harris said. "Eat. Sleep. I have a little boy who just turned 5. And every time I look at him I see their faces. Every time I get a quiet moment I see their faces. It's every day every single day. Life is not normal."
While Harris was testifying, Wesley Coonrod began crying.
Harris said that in the Coonrod house there were "more beer cans than toys." The defense objected to the comment and the jury was told to disregard it.
When they arrived at the hospital, Harris testified that Coonrod became agitated, and kept entering and exiting the room where the EMTs and hospital personnel were working on the children. Harris said that both boys had been laid on the same bed, with personnel administering life-saving procedures.
"He kept coming into the room, and he was asking where Stephen was," Harris said. "I guess he couldn't see him on the bed."
Defense counsel asked Harris if Coonrod was in the way or distracted them from the job that they were doing. She said that he did, and it would have been better had he stayed out of the way.
Many of the witnesses who have testified spoke about Coonrod's "dazed" and "incoherent" behavior during the time of the fire. Upon questioning, several witnesses said Thursday that Coonrod did not try to help break into the home when the screams of the children could be heard. When asked where the children were, according to testimony, Coonrod would not respond, or he would ask for cigarettes.
During cross-examination, defense attorneys asked the witnesses if Coonrod could have been in shock, as he was walking around the scene during a cold March morning clad only in his underwear. Some witnesses said that it was possible, while others indicated he did not appear to be in shock.
Mooney had asserted during his opening statements that Coonrod might not have attempted to get into the house because he did not want to be in the way and wanted to leave it to the professional firefighters because he thought that might be what was best for his children.
Firefighter Bill Strain testified that he was working in the capacity of engineer the night of the fire. He had the responsibility of distributing hoses and then monitoring levels on equipment from the truck and assisting the firefighters who made entry into the structure. When 3-year-old Stephen was brought outside, he was handed to Strain, who immediately began CPR on the sidewalk.
Strain testified that he was assisted by a bystander who indicated that he was trained in CPR. Mooney asked it was standard operating procedure to just let anyone assist. Strain said that preferably, another firefighter would have been the best option, but there was no one else to help. Strain said that, from his experience, he could tell that the bystander knew what he was doing.
Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey asked Strain what his main focus was at the time and Strain responded that his concern was "for his life. I was going to do everything I could to see he had the best possible chance to survive."
Because there was no medical equipment and the squad had not yet arrived, Strain said that Sgt. James Dunn with the Greenfield Police Department offered to transport the child in his cruiser. Strain testified that he felt they could not wait for the squad, so Dunn drove them to the hospital in his cruiser while Strain continued administering CPR, holding the child in his lap and administering chest compression against the dashboard of the car.
Mike Gilbert of the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District testified that when he arrived on scene, the fire had been pretty much "knocked down." Gilbert said that he spoke to Coonrod at the scene, asking him where the children were, but that he received no answer. Gilbert said he was later informed by a bystander Coonrod allegedly said that they were in a back bedroom of the house. Gilbert testified that he and other firefighters made entry in the rear of the house and searched that bedroom but did not find anything. While they were searching the rear of the house, Gilbert said that they were informed the children had been located in the front bedroom.
The firefighters testified that when they arrived on scene, the fire appeared to have been burning a while, estimated to be 20 minutes.
Neighbors testified Thursday that they do not know when 911 was called because they immediately concerned themselves with trying to get the children out of the burning structure. The firefighters testified Friday that they arrived on scene approximately five scenes after receiving the call reporting the five. The fire station is located block from the scene.
Gilbert testified that, based on his 12 years of firefighting experience, he thought the fire was unusually hot. The carpet in the fire appeared, "like I'd never seen before," as if it had shrunk.
"It appeared to me something had been poured on it," Gilbert said. "It just didn't look right."
During his opening statements, Mooney told jurors that when the state calls witnesses who discuss the possibility of the accelerant, to pay attention if a lab technician is called to present lab results confirming accelerant was found.
On Sept. 7, the court granted a motion to exclude in favor of the defense, ruling that the state could not introduce testimony that an accelerant-detecting canine used by the state fire marshal's office had indicated the presence of an accelerant because lab tests could not confirm accelerant was found at the scene.
On Thursday, the jury heard testimony from Phillip Bobb, who previously occupied Coonrod's apartment, regarding how when he moved he left behind a can of lighter fluid for a charcoal grill. The state introduced into evidence a can of lighter fluid found at the scene.
The jury also heard testimony from Beth Moore, who was at a residence next door to 115 Lafayette Street in Greenfeld when the fire began, and firefighters.
When testimony concluded for the day, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss told jurors that three items of evidence had been "stipulated," which means both the state and the defense agreed with the evidence and that no testimony needed to be heard regarding it. The evidence included the Montgomery County Coroner's reports regarding each child and a photograph taken of Coonrod's hand. It has not been indicated what was ruled in the coroner's report.
The jurors were excused for the weekend around 11 a.m. The state will continue with the presentation of its case Monday. Grandey said that they have approximately five witnesses left to call.
Coss told the jury that they may begin deliberations as early as Wednesday.
As a firefighter described discovering the lifeless bodies of Thomas and Stephen Coonrod "face-up in the closet" Wesley Coonrod broke down, covering his eyes with his hand and quietly sobbing during the second day of testimony in his capital murder trial in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
Later, he wiped his eyes with a tissue as a former EMT described how when she looks at her own 5-year-old child, "I see their faces. Every time I get a quiet moment I see their faces."
Coonrod is being tried on charges of aggravated homicide in the deaths of his two sons. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
James Thompson, a firefighter with the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District testified Friday that he and another firefighter were the first emergency personnel on scene to the fire March 7 on Lafayette Street in Greenfield. Thompson testified that as they began to make entry to the structure, which had smoke pouring out of it, the room "flashed over."
When a fire "flashes," he said, everything in the room reaches its ignition point and catches fire at the same time, and causes an explosion-like scenario. When the room "flashed," Thompson said he dove back out onto the porch. They then re-entered the structure, but he had to then exit due to an equipment issue. Within a matter of seconds, Thompson testified, he re-entered the home, and crawled along the right side of the wall, eventually entering a bedroom. Inside the bedroom he located a closet door, where he found Thomas and Stephen.
"Upon opening the door, I found the boys, face-up in the closet," Thompson said. "I signaled that I had found the victims. I picked up a child and handed him to another firefighter. I went back and picked up the second child."
Upon exiting the burning home, Thompson said he placed the child, 4-year-old Thomas, on the ground and began CPR. In less than a few minutes, the ambulance had arrived.
Thompson testified that the fire that night was unusual from others he had experienced in that instead of gradually getting warmer through their bunker gear, he immediately felt very hot, hotter than he remembered being in a fire before. He said that he could feel the heat from the floor through his pants, and that he later found out that the carpet had melted onto his pants.
On Thursday, defense attorneys William Mooney and Jerry McHenry questioned property owner Matthew Unger and carpet merchant Judy McCarty regarding the carpet in the structure. Unger had purchased carpet less than a year before the fire from the Greenfield Carpet Outlet. McCarty testified that the carpet he purchased met Federal Housing Administration standards and testing regarding flammability. On Cross examination, Unger said that he had not purchased a new carpet pad and he could not testify whether or not that pad met those standards. Unger said the pad most likely had been installed by the bank he purchased the property from a few years earlier. Unger also testif ied that the windows in the apartment were tightly built and that the only complaint he had ever had on the windows was that they were sometimes hard to raise. He also said that he had tested the smoke alarm sometime in the eight months prior to Coonrod moving in to the apartment.
After Thompson completed his testimony, EMT Jessica Harris took the stand and said that she was in the ambulance and had just arrived to the scene when the firefighters informed her they were doing a "load and go" and handed them the child. After waiting for Coonrod to enter the front passenger seat of the squad, Harris testified, they were driven to Adena Greenfield Area medical center, with EMTs performing CPR.
When asked to describe Thomas Coonrod's appearance, Harris paused for a moment.
"A dead baby. He had soot on his face, around his mouth and nose. He had what appeared to be a burn (on his face). Pale. Lifeless. He had soot on his hands. He had soot on his face, around his mouth, around his nose, what appear to be a burn (on his cheek and on his shoulder)."
Harris had been an EMT for approximately a year, she testified, when the March 7 fire occurred. She is no longer an active EMT.
"How has this affected you?" asked Assistant Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins.
"How hasn't it affected me," Harris said. "Eat. Sleep. I have a little boy who just turned 5. And every time I look at him I see their faces. Every time I get a quiet moment I see their faces. It's every day every single day. Life is not normal."
While Harris was testifying, Wesley Coonrod began crying.
Harris said that in the Coonrod house there were "more beer cans than toys." The defense objected to the comment and the jury was told to disregard it.
When they arrived at the hospital, Harris testified that Coonrod became agitated, and kept entering and exiting the room where the EMTs and hospital personnel were working on the children. Harris said that both boys had been laid on the same bed, with personnel administering life-saving procedures.
"He kept coming into the room, and he was asking where Stephen was," Harris said. "I guess he couldn't see him on the bed."
Defense counsel asked Harris if Coonrod was in the way or distracted them from the job that they were doing. She said that he did, and it would have been better had he stayed out of the way.
Many of the witnesses who have testified spoke about Coonrod's "dazed" and "incoherent" behavior during the time of the fire. Upon questioning, several witnesses said Thursday that Coonrod did not try to help break into the home when the screams of the children could be heard. When asked where the children were, according to testimony, Coonrod would not respond, or he would ask for cigarettes.
During cross-examination, defense attorneys asked the witnesses if Coonrod could have been in shock, as he was walking around the scene during a cold March morning clad only in his underwear. Some witnesses said that it was possible, while others indicated he did not appear to be in shock.
Mooney had asserted during his opening statements that Coonrod might not have attempted to get into the house because he did not want to be in the way and wanted to leave it to the professional firefighters because he thought that might be what was best for his children.
Firefighter Bill Strain testified that he was working in the capacity of engineer the night of the fire. He had the responsibility of distributing hoses and then monitoring levels on equipment from the truck and assisting the firefighters who made entry into the structure. When 3-year-old Stephen was brought outside, he was handed to Strain, who immediately began CPR on the sidewalk.
Strain testified that he was assisted by a bystander who indicated that he was trained in CPR. Mooney asked it was standard operating procedure to just let anyone assist. Strain said that preferably, another firefighter would have been the best option, but there was no one else to help. Strain said that, from his experience, he could tell that the bystander knew what he was doing.
Highland County Prosecutor Jim Grandey asked Strain what his main focus was at the time and Strain responded that his concern was "for his life. I was going to do everything I could to see he had the best possible chance to survive."
Because there was no medical equipment and the squad had not yet arrived, Strain said that Sgt. James Dunn with the Greenfield Police Department offered to transport the child in his cruiser. Strain testified that he felt they could not wait for the squad, so Dunn drove them to the hospital in his cruiser while Strain continued administering CPR, holding the child in his lap and administering chest compression against the dashboard of the car.
Mike Gilbert of the Paint Creek Joint Fire and Ambulance District testified that when he arrived on scene, the fire had been pretty much "knocked down." Gilbert said that he spoke to Coonrod at the scene, asking him where the children were, but that he received no answer. Gilbert said he was later informed by a bystander Coonrod allegedly said that they were in a back bedroom of the house. Gilbert testified that he and other firefighters made entry in the rear of the house and searched that bedroom but did not find anything. While they were searching the rear of the house, Gilbert said that they were informed the children had been located in the front bedroom.
The firefighters testified that when they arrived on scene, the fire appeared to have been burning a while, estimated to be 20 minutes.
Neighbors testified Thursday that they do not know when 911 was called because they immediately concerned themselves with trying to get the children out of the burning structure. The firefighters testified Friday that they arrived on scene approximately five scenes after receiving the call reporting the five. The fire station is located block from the scene.
Gilbert testified that, based on his 12 years of firefighting experience, he thought the fire was unusually hot. The carpet in the fire appeared, "like I'd never seen before," as if it had shrunk.
"It appeared to me something had been poured on it," Gilbert said. "It just didn't look right."
During his opening statements, Mooney told jurors that when the state calls witnesses who discuss the possibility of the accelerant, to pay attention if a lab technician is called to present lab results confirming accelerant was found.
On Sept. 7, the court granted a motion to exclude in favor of the defense, ruling that the state could not introduce testimony that an accelerant-detecting canine used by the state fire marshal's office had indicated the presence of an accelerant because lab tests could not confirm accelerant was found at the scene.
On Thursday, the jury heard testimony from Phillip Bobb, who previously occupied Coonrod's apartment, regarding how when he moved he left behind a can of lighter fluid for a charcoal grill. The state introduced into evidence a can of lighter fluid found at the scene.
The jury also heard testimony from Beth Moore, who was at a residence next door to 150 Lafayette Street in Greenfeld when the fire began, and firefighters.
When testimony concluded for the day, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss told jurors that three items of evidence had been "stipulated," which means both the state and the defense agreed with the evidence and that no testimony needed to be heard regarding it. The evidence included the Montgomery County Coroner's reports regarding each child and a photograph taken of Coonrod's hand. It has not been indicated what was ruled in the coroner's report.
The jurors were excused for the weekend around 11 a.m. The state will continue with the presentation of its case Monday. Grandey said that they have approximately five witnesses left to call.
On Sept. 30 Coss filed a warrant for removal for Donald Scott Pearson from the Pickaway Correctional Institution in response to the defense's motion to convey the inmate to testify. It was ordered that Pearson be released into the custody of the Highland County Sheriff's to testify in the trial. Coss said Friday that he would permit Pearson to testify in civilian clothes, not in a prison uniform, and without restraints.
On Sept. 30 Coss filed a warrant for removal for Donald Scott Pearson from the Pickaway Correctional Institution in response to the defense's motion to convey the inmate to testify. It was ordered that Pearson be released into the custody of the Highland County Sheriff's to testify in the trial. Coss said Friday that he would permit Pearson to testify in civilian clothes, not in a prison uniform, and without restraints.
Coss told the jury that they may begin deliberations as early as Wednesday.
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