 Mr. Jenkins was involved in a two-vehicle collision on Illinois
Route 54, about one mile east of Chestnut, on Jan. 28. The accident
happened around 5:45 a.m. Jenkins was the driver in a 2000 Buick
LaSabre. He was pronounced deceased at the scene at 6:22 a.m. by
Logan County Paramedics and Chestnut Fire and Rescue.The inquest
was to determine the cause and manner of death.
Coroner Robert Thomas conducted the inquest with eight jurors
present. Illinois State Police Trooper Price, who is an accident
reconstruction officer, gave testimony about the crash. Testimony at
the inquest revealed that Jenkins was traveling west on Route 54
when he lost control of his vehicle and slid into the oncoming
traffic in the eastbound lane. The road was snow-covered at the time
of the accident.
Deputy Coroner Jason Southerland gave testimony about the autopsy
findings. Jessica H. Bowman, M.D, performed the autopsy, and her
findings were that Jenkins' cause of death was "blunt force injury
to the body."
The jurors, after deliberation, returned with a verdict of
"accidental death" as the manner of death. The jurors' choices by
state statute were as follows: accidental, homicide, natural causes,
suicide or undetermined.
[Text from file received from the
Logan County coroner's office] |
