By Stephanie Warsmith
Akron Beacon Journal
CANTON, Ohio — Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler said she ruled Canton firefighter Tonya Johnson’s death a suicide because she stepped into rush-hour traffic on state Route 8.
Kohler testified Thursday that Johnson’s action was more dangerous than Russian roulette, which has a 1 in 6 chance of death.
“If the traffic was not as heavy as it is known to be at that hour, and she was crossing a less busy street, I would have considered the idea of an accident,” Kohler said during a hearing in a civil case challenging her ruling. “The rate of traffic at shortly after 4 p.m. is significant. It is not possible to cross safely. That shows intent to cause harm or death.”
Kohler, who remained steadfast under lengthy and intense questioning from Johnson’s family’s attorneys, was the final witness in a three-day hearing that put both Johnson’s life and dramatic death under a microscope.
Following the hearing, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Amy Corrigall Jones gave attorneys for both sides 21 days to file post-hearing briefs. Jones could decide there is enough evidence for a full trial, that there isn’t enough evidence or that the manner of death should be changed.
At stake is $3 million in life insurance that Guardian Life Insurance refused to pay because of the suicide ruling.
Johnson, 43, died while crossing Route 8 in Akron on Feb. 22, 2016. Police said the mother of three crossed the southbound lanes, climbed the concrete divider and was struck by a northbound vehicle.
Kohler ruled on April 18, 2016, that the cause of Johnson’s death was “blunt force trauma to the head” and the manner of death was “suicide.”
Johnson’s family protested Kohler’s ruling, insisting Johnson never expressed suicidal thoughts. They argued Kohler had failed to consider how Johnson had sought a divorce from her husband of eight days and speculated that Johnson may have run across traffic to get away from him after a fight. Two of Johnson’s relatives were on their way to get her in Akron when she was hit.
Johnson’s family filed a lawsuit last February against the medical examiner’s office, the Akron police officers who investigated Johnson’s death and Guardian Life Insurance.
In the first two days of this week’s hearing, several of Johnson’s family members, friends and co-workers testified about Johnson’s life and character and their disbelief that she would end her life. They painted a picture of an ambitious woman who loved her job, her family and God.
On Thursday, the hearing shifted to Johnson’s death, with several witnesses and officers testifying.
Dale White, who was driving the pickup truck that struck Johnson, said he was in the far left northbound lane on Route 8 when he saw a car in front of him swerve to the right. He saw a woman in the road watching this car go by. He locked his brakes and turned his steering wheel to the left, but still struck her.
“I was thinking about traffic next to me,” he said. “I had nowhere to go. I wasn’t about to go to the right.”
David Mendenhall said he was in the southbound lanes on Route 8 — where traffic was at a standstill — when he noticed a woman in the middle lane of the northbound side. She stepped back into the lane next to the median and was struck.
Danielle Pierce, one of the attorneys for Johnson’s family, asked if Johnson had time to see the pickup truck.
“I assume she didn’t,” Mendenhall answered.
Akron Police Sgt. Michael Vavro, who investigated the incident, acknowledged that Johnson’s intent was in dispute.
“Was it possible she was crossing the highway or attempting to?” Pierce asked.
“No, not in my opinion,” he responded.
“Based on the fact she was crossing the highway, it’s a suicide?” Pierce asked.
“It was a suicide because she died,” he said.
After several witnesses testified, Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Colleen Sims asked Jones to dismiss the case, arguing the evidence failed to prove the suicide ruling should be overturned. Jones declined the request.
Kohler, Summit County’s medical examiner since 2001, then took the stand. She said she based her suicide ruling on the police investigation, witness accounts and her autopsy.
Sims asked Kohler if she heard anything during the hearing that caused her to second-guess this decision.
She said she had not.
David DuPlain, the other attorney for Johnson’s family, asked Kohler if her ruling might have been different if she knew Johnson was crossing the highway because she was fleeing from someone.
“I can’t make a speculative statement,” Kohler responded. “That was not described in the current situation.”
DuPlain asked Kohler if she believed with 100 percent certainty that Johnson killed herself.
“With a reasonable degree of medical certainty,” Kohler responded. “That was the standard for ruling.”
Copyright 2018 Akron Beacon Journal