Man Found Dead Had Been Partying

A 19-year-old Kennewick man who died Sunday in a Washington State University dormitory had been at a private party in Pullman the night before, campus police said.

Baron Godwin was found by police in a hallway of the Gannon residence hall around 4:45 a.m. on Sunday. He was not breathing and was taken to Pullman Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Godwin was not a student at WSU. He had arrived on campus Saturday with another nonstudent to visit a friend who lives in Gannon, said Bill Mercier, chief of police for WSU.

After a night in Pullman, Godwin and his two male friends came back to the residence hall.

“He was sleeping in the residence room and they were trying to bring him to the shower when they realized they had a more difficult problem than just a person asleep,” Mercier said.

Mercier didn’t know why Godwin’s friends were taking him to the shower, although there is some indication he vomited at some point during the night, Mercier said.

An autopsy was performed on Sunday. Campus police are awaiting the results of a toxicology report, which should be ready in a few days.

“We are looking at some sort of substance abuse, but we don’t want to characterize it until we get the toxicology report back,” Mercier said.

, DataTimes