Man’s death a shock to friend

Marci Petersen was on her way to Sacred Heart Medical Center on Saturday afternoon for the birth of her brother’s baby when she learned that the father of her child was fighting for his life at the same facility.

Petersen arrived about 5 p.m., but she was about half an hour late to say goodbye to Gregory Patrick Smelcer, 37, who died from head injuries received from a single punch at a north Spokane bar.

“I haven’t even had time to grieve over this,” Petersen said.

The two had lived together and have a 4-year-old daughter. They broke up in 2004 but remained friends and communicated daily, Petersen said.

“When I found out Greg was in the hospital and was on life support, I went to go see him,” she said. “But the hospital (staff) refused to let me see him because I wasn’t immediate family. I told them we had a daughter in common. I asked them, ‘What am I supposed to tell our daughter?’ “

Smelcer’s father was at the hospital and let Petersen in. But it was too late; Smelcer had been pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m.

“I never got a chance to say goodbye. I’m not handling it well,” Petersen said. “I was trying to call him at least 15 times that day. I had a feeling something was wrong.”

Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan offered no new details Sunday about how Smelcer died.

Deputies responded to the Screaming Yak, 118 W. Francis Ave., just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday as Smelcer was being taken to the hospital.

Witnesses told deputies that Smelcer had been making derogatory remarks about another bar patron, who punched Smelcer.

Smelcer fell back, hit a wall and lost consciousness, Reagan said. After Smelcer was taken to the hospital, deputies found the man who threw the punch. They did not arrest him, and Reagan did not release the man’s name.

Reagan said major crimes detectives will investigate today to determine if there is a basis for charges. “Our investigation is incomplete,” Reagan said.

Petersen said Smelcer had moved back to Spokane just over a week ago from Auburn, Wash. He had just started a job as a quality assurance inspector.

She said Smelcer frequented the Screaming Yak. An employee at the Screaming Yak said she could not comment, and the manager could not be reached.

Adding to her grief, Petersen said, is that Smelcer’s mother and aunt haven’t told her the whereabouts of her daughter, Kaitlyn. Petersen said she spoke Sunday evening with Spokane police detectives, but the girl had not been located.

“They have our daughter and they won’t return my phone calls to bring her back to me,” she said of Smelcer’s mother.

Greg Smelcer had 51 percent custody of their daughter, she said. Since he moved back to Spokane, Petersen said, she had been able to spend more time with her daughter.

“I kept in contact with him every single day,” she said. “Now I don’t know where our daughter is. For a while there I thought I was dreaming – that it was just a bad dream.”