Protesters criticize EBR coroner
Sharalean Temple said when she learned recently that her slain son’s driver’s license was found at the home of a Coroner’s Office investigator, terrible memories came flooding back.
“I just started thinking about what happened to him and then wondering why would his license end up at this man’s house,” Temple said Tuesday. “I guess the bigger question is how something like that was allowed to happen. It never should have.”
Temple was among about a dozen people who protested for two hours Tuesday outside of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office, waving signs that accused Coroner Shannon Cooper of mishandling the office and demanded a change.
The protest was spurred partly by the discovery last year of prescription medication and multiple driver’s licenses of deceased people at the home of Coroner’s Office employee Raymond Levie during a search by police.
Levie, 50, was shot and killed June 25 at TJ Ribs restaurant on North Acadian Thruway by the brother of Levie’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Candace Jones. The shooter, Shawn Jones, then killed himself.
Police had searched Levie’s apartment prior to his death based on a complaint that Levie was abusing Candace Jones, an affidavit for the search warrant says. The woman’s mother, Renee Jones, filed the compliant.
Investigators found multiple prescription pill bottles and about 40 licenses and identification cards, including that of Temple’s son, George Temple II.
George Temple, 24, was fatally shot in February 2006 by a civilian witness during a fight with a Baton Rouge police officer.
Cooper said Tuesday that although police found the licenses and prescription drugs Dec. 30, the Coroner’s Office was not notified of the discovery until after Levie was killed.
The Coroner’s Office takes driver’s licenses after a person dies and turns them over to the State Police to be canceled, Cooper said. Driver’s licenses are property of the state and are not given to the families of the deceased, he said.
Cooper said he “would have fired (Levie) immediately” had he been informed Levie was keeping licenses at his home.
“That is a full breach of policy,” Cooper said.
Sharalean Temple — who was told that her son’s license was in Levie’s possession by the protest’s organizer two weeks ago — said the lack of oversight that allowed Levie to collect dozens of licenses “never should have happened.”
“I was just so shocked to hear that,” she said. “Can you imagine that? It was upsetting to say the least.”
Keith Traylor said Tuesday he organized the protest because he encountered a myriad of problems with the Coroner’s Office after his son’s death in May 2009.
Traylor said he was initially told by Levie that his son, Jeremy Traylor, 18, died of an overdose of Oxycontin. But soon after the family buried Jeremy Traylor, Levie called back, saying Traylor died of natural causes.
Keith Traylor said his family believes the cause of death was intentionally changed and is incorrect.
Jeremy Traylor’s mother, Melissa Traylor — who has become an advocate for raising awareness of the dangers of prescription drug abuse — said the family has been “stonewalled” in its attempts to learn more from the Coroner’s Office about her son’s death.
“There are just so many lies and all-around wrongdoing,” Melissa Traylor said. “We’ve just been dismissed whenever we try to get information. We need honesty and someone who will treat families with dignity and respect.”
Cooper said he’s met with the Traylors to discuss their son’s death.
“I know they wanted a different result,” Cooper said. “I’m sorry for their tragedy. I really am, but I can’t say that (Jeremy Traylor) died of an overdose when he had a negative toxicology. That would be incorrect.”
Melissa Traylor said the protest was timed with the upcoming election because “it’s time for a change.” Cooper will face William “Beau” Clark in a runoff election for coroner on Nov. 19.
Cooper said the protesters are entitled to their opinions, but “there are other explanations for what they’re saying.”
“We work with 8,000 families a year, and all are in a difficult time,” Cooper said. “It’s not unusual with that many families that some will be unhappy with the findings.”