Authorities conduct death investigation at Ann Arbor home
Authorities investigated the death of a man at an Ann Arbor home Wednesday afternoon.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Police were investigating after a man was found dead Wednesday at a home in Ann Arbor.
An investigation into the death got underway just after noon at the house of the Phi Rho Sigma fraternity, a co-educational society of University of Michigan medical students, at 220 North Ingalls St.
Police said they believe the man was a student. It wasn't immediately clear how he died, however.
Ann Arbor police Detective Sgt. Pat Hughes said investigators were conducting a preliminary investigation and that every death that occurs outside of a hospital is considered suspicious.
Uniformed officers, plainclothes detectives and the Ann Arbor Police Department Crime Scene Unit were at the scene Wednesday afternoon. Police taped off the parking lot of the home and were interviewing other residents of the home, one of whom was wearing hospital scrubs.
Authorities from the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner's office were expected later in the afternoon. Investigators could not immediately release any other information.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
FreedomSpeech
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 4:04 p.m.
Authorities? Not my authority. Stockholm comes to mind... Is it any wonder that when a hijacker for example... puts on a flight crew uni, people will tend to obey, rather than fight? Can we stop calling these people "Authorities"? Officer is another misused term.
tdw
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 12:09 a.m.
So many people on this site have zero class.I gave every hospital attacker a thumbs down.I figured I'd just post a comment as opposed to making a reply to everyone.When someone dies in a hospital there's these things called " Doctors" who documents the cause of death
KMHall
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 2:04 a.m.
tdw Yes to your original comment. Having zero class is a nice way to put it. For a death to be "considered suspicious" simply means that it warrants investigation due to the fact that there were no doctors around to document the conditions.
tdw
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 12:54 a.m.
lorayn54...I'm not sure if you are taking a shot at me,BUT I will say my comment is much more intelligent than the one's I'm making reference to
lorayn54
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 12:40 a.m.
thank you for providing an intelligent comment. makes perfect sense.
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 9:41 p.m.
Detective Lt. Robert Pfannes told me a little while ago there likely won't be more information released on this case today. Investigators don't have enough information to release any official statement at this time. We'll continue following up.
Dave
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 1:58 a.m.
Still waiting for the name of the guy and what happened on Eisenhower last month!
barb
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 11:30 p.m.
Curious about the follow-up, I've heard a few things and will be very surprised either way. Feel bad for his family, always a tragedy.
djacks24
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 9:40 p.m.
Pretty sad when authorities promote dying in a hospital. Kind of gives hospitals an even worse wrap then they already have. Sorry for the family.
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:40 p.m.
As Sgt. Fox from the WCSO told me last week in a separate case, investigators always have to find out if there is a criminal element in these types of situations (sudden, unexpected deaths).
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 3:53 a.m.
Ann - In at least the case of the incident last week in Ford Lake, Mr. Zellars' death was still investigated to see if there was a criminal element. I think drownings go on a case by case basis.
Barb's Mom
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.
@ Ann English-How can you determine if a sudden unexpected death is due to heredity if the police don't investigate it? I believe the police have to investigate to call the medical examiner in to do an autopsy.
Ann English
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.
I'm assuming that Sgt. Fox excluded drowning from other sudden, unexpected deaths. All of the drownings reported here were unexpected.
Ann English
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 11:13 p.m.
A sudden, unexpected death in or out of a hospital can be caused by one's heredity.
WalkingJoe
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 9:06 p.m.
Thanks Kyle, I really am taken aback by some of the comments. We had a case here in our neighborhood a few years back where an elderly woman passed at home after a long illness. My understanding is that hospice care called it in and the police and medical examiner came. I was told it was so that everything was done legally. And it makes perfect sense to me, of course I am probably naive.
oldguy
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.
Gee, I guess I shouldn`t die at home then... or in Hospice.
Bear
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:57 p.m.
the usual clacking of tongues.....
snapshot
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.
Something wrong with officials stating "any death outside a hospital is considered suspicious" It sounds like officials covering for officials with an "us vs. them" attitude and "them" being all suspects. So yeah, Bear...I'm "clacking" and I grant you the right to "clack" too.
onlooker
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:48 p.m.
justcurious, CynicA2, snapshot. Are the three of you serious? Can we show a little sensitivity to the fact that a young man died today. Yeesh! Prayers to the family and friends!
Ann English
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 11:30 p.m.
It grabs my attention when a death takes place uncomfortably close to places where people I've known live or work. This is one such death.
justcurious
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.
Yes, a young man died but we have absolutely no information as to why. It could be a natural death or not. But I was taken aback by Detective Sgt. Pat Hughes's comments about investigating all deaths that occur outside of a hospital. Technically, that probably isn't the case.
snapshot
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:39 p.m.
Agree that deaths inside hospitals should be investigated too. Hospital personnel have been known to murder dozens of patients before someone gets "suspicious".
CynicA2
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:24 p.m.
Hmmmm... Many deaths occurring in hospitals are suspicious, also - medical errors, omissions, or whatever - happens all the time.
CynicA2
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 5:11 p.m.
Whatever... too many overly "sensitive" types around here.
justcurious
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:59 p.m.
Not much information here. "and that every death that occurs outside of a hospital is considered suspicious." I think a lot of the deaths INSIDE a hospital should be investigated as suspicious though.
CynicA2
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 5:14 p.m.
Agreed! Doctors and hospitals are not gods - they make mistakes all the time - helps keep Geoff Fieger in business!