By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The 20-year-old employee at Hampton Mill in Morton died Tuesday after his clothing got caught on his neck cutting oxygen off to his brain, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.
Dillan Davis, 20, of Randle, was last seen during a break between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and was found on a conveyor fatally injured, according to authorities.
The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the death.
It happened at the saw mill on state Route 7 just north of town.
What time Davis was discovered or if he was working alone have not been released by authorities. Lewis County sheriff’s detectives were called to the scene about 11:15 a.m.
It was an accident, Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said yesterday. An autopsy concluded Davis died from cerebral anoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) secondary to external compression of his neck by clothing, McLeod said.
McLeod said the time of death on Davis’s death certificate is noted as 2:28 p.m., the time his deputy coroner “pronounced” Davis dead.
“It’s a shame, just a young kid,” McLeod said. “I don’t want to see this happen to anybody, but …”
The mill is owned by Portland, Ore.-based Hampton Affiliates.