WKUherald.com

College Heights Herald

November 30, 2006

Student dies after PFT jump

UPDATED: 8:48 p.m., Nov. 12

Amber Coulter and A. Layne Stackhouse

Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: Breaking News

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Funeral services for Dylan C. Prott will take place at 4 p.m. Monday at the First Unitarian Church in Louisville, according to his obituary in The Courier-Journal.

Prott, 18, a Louisville freshman, was found dead early Thursday morning after police were told at 12:26 a.m. that he had apparently jumped from his room on the 20th floor, said Bob Edwards, assistant vice president of university relations.

An preliminary autopsy report revealed that he suffered severe body trauma, said Harold Sanson, a Warren County deputy coroner.

The autopsy was performed Thursday in Louisville.

His body was found on the side of the building that faces University Boulevard, the Herald previously reported.

The Warren County Coroner's Office will determine the official cause of death and perform a toxicology test, which is expected to take 30 to 45 days, Edwards said.

"We'll learn a lot more here in the next couple of days and weeks," he said.

Officials withheld the victim's name until Thursday so they could confirm it and contact his family members, Edwards said.

"We're not classifying this as a suicide," Edwards said. "We're not classifying this as anything right now."

Prott was an English and allied arts major, said Mike Prott, Dylan's father.

"He was a bright light," Mike Prott said. "He was free-spirited."

Dylan Prott liked to play bass guitar and was formerly in a band called Pocket Bomb, Mike Prott said.

"He was a good kid," he said, "He was just a very special person."

Dylan Prott's mother, who heard the news while she was in Scotland, is coming home tomorrow, Mike Prott said.

Louisville sophomore John Absher, a resident assistant on the 20th floor of PFT, said that he was called to Prott's room because Prott was causing a disturbance. He wouldn't comment further.

Edwards said officials have heard reports that Prott was under the influence of drugs before he died. They have also received reports that Prott was naked and acting erratically in PFT before his death.

According to an official statement Western sent in a mass e-mail, a preliminary report indicates that Prott disabled a safety device designed to keep the PFT dorm window from opening more than a few inches.

Dorm safety checks are conducted on the first Tuesday of every month, and the Nov. 7 check showed that the safety bar was in place, according to the statement.

One of Western's priorities following the incident will be to make sure safety checks are being performed and reported appropriately, Edwards said. Officials believe the checks were conducted correctly.

Edwards said Western has never had a problem, as far as he knows, with students removing safety bars.

Campus police are handling the investigation.

PFT is the tallest dorm on the Hill with 27 floors. The building, which was built in 1970, has more students living in it than any other dorm. There are about 900 students assigned to live there this semester, the Herald previously reported.

Western's next step will be to attend to students and employees' emotional well-being, Edwards said. They will pay particular attention to Prott's roommate, friends and family members.

Western will provide grief counselors to anyone who requests one, according to the statement.

Donations and letters to the Dylan Prott Memorial Fund can be sent to Jamie Prott at P.O. Box 4831, Louisville, Ky., 40204.

To contact Western's Counseling and Testing Center, call 745-3159.

Reach the reporters at news@wkuherald.com.

Check the Herald online for more updates.

Published: April 10, 2007 08:20 am

Marijuana, mushrooms
by
Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

Two Richmond residents were arrested on several charges Saturday after a city police officer uncovered two growing operations that gave High Street a whole new meaning.

According to a release from the Richmond Police Department, Officer Kelly Rouse found hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana growing in an apartment at 331 High St.

The sound of breaking glass first led Rouse to the residence where he arrested David Matthew Wallin and Erica Lynn Perkins, both 25.

Wallin told Rouse that he and Perkins had been arguing and she had locked him out of the apartment, according to the police department’s release that was issued Monday.

Wallin was trying to break in through a window to regain entry into the apartment.

During the initial investigation, Rouse entered the apartment to check on Perkins’ welfare.

Rouse then uncovered evidence of drug paraphernalia and issued a search warrant for the residence.

Numerous pods of mushrooms were reportedly found growing with the aid of several growing materials, including potting soil, fertilizer and artificial heat lamps.

Marijuana seeds also were found in the apartment. Growing marijuana calls for many of the same ingredients and equipment it takes to grow hallucinogenic mushrooms.

“They were either growing it or getting ready to grow it,” Reardon said. “With the things they had in place, that would be enough evidence.”

The mushrooms found resulted in a second-degree controlled substance charge, because they are in the same class as LSD and PCP, which are both hallucinogens, Reardon said.

“It’s not the kind you get on your Domino’s pizza,” he said. “It’s not a common thing. I can only remember one other time that we found an inside grow operation of (hallucinogenic) mushrooms.”

Wallin was charged with alcohol intoxication, disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia, second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

Perkins was charged with second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

Both were lodged in the Madison County Detention Center, but released on $5,000, unsecured, third-party bonds each.

A third party signs for the person to get out of jail, but if the accused does not appear in court, they are then required to pay the $5,000, according to Madison County Detention Center personnel.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.

The Riochman Register of Kentucky