DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - On Friday, the attorney for the family of Boston University professor David Jones visited the site where Jones fell to his death through a crumbling staircase near the MBTA’s JFK/UMass station in September.
Newly released video shows Jones going up the stairs but does not explain how he fell through a huge gap in the staircase where steps were missing. Now, the family and a just-released state police report are providing answers.
“Wait the next four steps are missing. Completely missing. You couldn’t get around them. You couldn’t jump over them. It was a huge hole,” said the Jones’ family attorney Darin Colucci. “Before he could turn around and merely go back down, the stair he was on gave way and he fell to his death.”
The investigating state trooper at the time agreed, writing…”3/4s of the way up the staircase, the steps gave way, causing Jones to fall approximately 20 feet to the pavement below.”
Jones apparently got to the aging, rusty steps by walking through a gap between the steps and some temporary fencing in front of them. An MBTA engineer told the investigator that the T knew about the condition of the stairs for 20 months but the “agency, DCR and MassDOT were not able to fully determine who exactly owned the staircase at the time.”
“They let it stay that way 20 months — 20 months,” said Colucci. “They knew that it had been condemned, that it was dangerous and they did nothing to either address the danger, warn people of the danger or fix the fence in a way that no one could access it.”
The police reports note that the top of the stairs was well blocked with warning signs, unlike the bottom.
Last month, the Suffolk County district attorney announced no criminal charges will be filed in the case and that it has been officially ruled an accident.
Jones’ family wants someone to be held responsible.
“They’re dealing with the fact that this was preventable, that this was bureaucracy run amuck, that this should never have happened,” Colucci said.
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