SAN ANTONIO – An autopsy report for the worker who fell to his death in a smokestack at the Pearl Brewery last August shows the man was not drunk or high.
It’s still unclear why the roofer, his first day on the job, was even in that area.
After his death, family members maintained 31-year-old Inocencio Rodriguez-Diaz was not a man who would try to sneak away from work.
They say the Mexican national took the job to support his family back home.
Rodriguez-Diaz fell through a smokestack death about 20 feet to his death. His body was found a week later.
The toxicology portion of the autopsy report shows he was not intoxicated when he died.
His family’s lawyer, Fidel Rodriguez, Jr., says the area near the smokestack was dangerous and the people managing the job site should have taken precautions to close off the area.
"We know it was not shut off,” Rodriguez, Jr., says. “We know it was an area that was accessible to individuals. We believe there were other individuals who were utilizing that area for whatever reason."
The family is now suing Tin Star Contractors and a subcontractor.
Tin Star’s lawyer Clark Aspy says, as a roofing company, it has no control over the inside of the building. Aspy says either way, the area had significant boundaries, including guard rails.
The case is expected to go to trial sometime next summer.
