CENTRALIA — Clinton County State’s Attorney John Hudspeth says he will soon decide if criminal charges will be leveled against a former employee of the Warren G. Murray Center in Centralia for the choking death of a deaf and blind resident of the facility.

A coroner’s inquest into the March death of 46-year-old Todd Clementz found cause to be homicide and the result of a punishment shower given to the developmentally disabled man resulted in him choking on cold water that was sprayed into his face as well as regurgitated food.
Tom Hatley, a state police investigator, testified at the coroner’s inquest that the Murray employee who gave Clementz the shower told him that Clementz had missed his regularly scheduled bath “because he was exhibiting a behavior.”
Hatley testified that within minutes, Clementz began choking on the cold water being sprayed into his face from a hand-held shower wand, his lips turned blue as he became unconscious and went into cardiac arrest.
Hudspeth tells The Associated Press his review of the case is nearly complete. The AP says it is not naming the employee, who was initially placed on administrative leave but later fired for seeking work at another state agency during an internal investigation, and Withers Broadcasting is also withholding his name until and unless formal charges are filed against him.