Man dies from fall out window
William Losser was sitting in his house on West North Street on Monday evening when he heard glass shattering at the adjacent apartment building.
Losser will never forget what he saw when he looked out his side window: the broken body of Derek Jon Davenport.
"What I saw was horrific," he said.
Seconds before at 6:48 p.m., Davenport, 30, of Butler had fallen three floors from the window at 9A in the apartment building at 427 W. North St.
After seeing Davenport lying on the pavement between sections of the apartment building, Losser ran out his back door and leaped over a wall to reach the injured man.
Losser saw the back of Davenport's head was bleeding.
"It was pretty bad," Losser said.
While Losser tended to Davenport, Shannon Shannon, who lives with Losser, called 911.
Although Davenport could not speak, he was responsive to Losser.
"When I was talking to him, he looked at me one time," Losser said.
Knowing Davenport's condition was severe, Losser didn't attempt to move him.
"I felt pretty bad I couldn't do anything," Losser said.
He said emergency crews promptly arrived to the scene.
"They did what they could for him here," Losser said.
Davenport was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital before being flown by medical helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He was pronounced dead 12:06 a.m. Tuesday at the Pittsburgh hospital.
Butler police are investigating what caused the fall.
Losser said Monday was not the first time Davenport went out a window.
"He had a habit of jumping out windows," Losser said. "He just got out of the hospital for jumping out a window."
But Losser said he could not be sure what led up to Davenport's fall.
According to Losser, Davenport, who lived on West Boyd Avenue, was visiting an elderly man in the apartment building.
Losser had known Davenport before Monday.
For Losser, the scene he witnessed will haunt him: "I'm 28 years old, that traumatized me."
Davenport was a Butler High School graduate and was co-owner of D&D Tree Service. His obituary is on
Page 6.