David Jones, an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, died Saturday afternoon when he fell through a rickety set of stairs between the JFK/UMass T station and Old Colony Avenue.
The Dorchester Reporter reports State Police found a missing stair above Jones's body after they and Transit Police responded around 1:30 p.m.
Despite their proximity to the train station, the MBTA says the stairs belong to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The Reporter says a sign with MBTA branding at one end of the stairs said they were scheduled to be closed until "Fall, 2020." The Suffolk County District Attorney's office is now handling the investigation into what State Police called "an unintended death."
Jones, 40, joined the School of Public Health faculty in 2014 and specialized in the politics and social issues related to public health. In a message to the School of Public Health on Sunday, Dean Sandro Galea wrote:
In truth I have no words to describe the devastation of this news. David joined the School of Public Health in 2014. He has, since then, been an exemplary member of our community. He was founding Editor-in-Chief of the Public Health Post, he was awarded AUPHA’s John D. Thompson Prize for Young Investigators, AcademyHealth’s Outstanding Dissertation Award, and the BU School of Public Health Excellence in Teaching Award. He cared deeply about bridging research and policy, and conducted work in places as far as France and the Mississippi Delta. And above all David was a wonderful human being, living with integrity and a deep commitment to all we do. I have so loved all my interactions with David, I cannot really imagine what it means to not have David as part of our community.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe page for his wife and three children.
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Comments
Goddammit!
By W.C. Plains
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:47pm
F'king infuriating. There needs to be actual accountability wherever the facts lead. What the hell is it with this place? World class city!
Out for a jog
By tblade
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:20pm
The Globe article linked in a different comment notes that Jones was out for a jog, his wife characterizes it as Jones “accidentally†accessed the staircase, and the State Police spokesperson said that the fence at the bottom and the Jersey barrier at the top were in place yesterday. Furthermore Neal observed above that the Google street view from 202 shows 4 steps missing and I checked a street view from Columbia Rd showing the barrier and fencing at the top of the stairs.
With all sympathy to the widow and family, the rational conclusion is that Jones was intentionally in a place where he knew he should not have been. He doesn’t deserve death and I am not trying to shame the poor guy for what seems like an avoidable, yet fatal, mistake. But unless some elaborate conspiracy is revealed where Jones was murdered and the crime scene was staged as an accident, it seems like Jones was a too-curious urban explorer or he wanted to use the closed stairs as a way to avoid the rotary.
In all the pics, the stairs do look very well marked off
By Keiko
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 2:58pm
One would have to have to knowingly bypass the fencing to get to the stairs. But one might get distracted and not see the missing steps, or think you could safely jump them, or step on one of the two steps next to the missing ones and then the step you're on gives way.
Gives me the shivers thinking of the times I don't pay attention to warning signs.
Still a horrific tragedy. Deep condolences to the family.
Well said
By Cutter
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 11:11am
I walk and run by these stairs several times a week and I was struggling to articulate this in a way that doesn't victim-blame, because obviously no one deserves to die for a momentary error in judgment several miles into a long run.
That stairway was recently
By Rob
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 12:59pm
That stairway was recently blocked off (and remained so, as far as I know).
There are frequently issues
By Elise
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:16pm
There are frequently issues getting the state to maintain road infrastructure where it intersects closely with city roads and property. Centre St in West Roxbury is state road from the Arborway rotary to the VFW parkway but it’s city owned before and after those points. A family member of mine who managed one of the properties on that stretch had a hell of a time getting anyone out to deal with road issues - a surprising number of telephone poles have fallen into the roadway there. Whenever they’d make calls to the state the people who picked up would try to argue that it was city road.
Centre St in that area is a
By Rob
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:26pm
Centre St in that area is a DCR road, isn't it?
All the photos in media where
By Notfromboston
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 1:31pm
All the photos in media where the bottom of the staircase is blocked off with chicken wire have 6 steps already missing, so they must be post-accident. Are there any pre-accident photos that show only 4 steps missing and how well was the bottom entrance protected?
Nov 2020
By Keiko
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 3:03pm
The photos linked above are from Google Street view. They show the top and bottom of the stairs blocked off in Nov 2020. And one that Neal above linked to shows 4 steps missing in Nov 2020.
As to how well protected the bottom entrance was, the posts the chain link was attached to weren't in the ground. They were held there by something that could be moved by someone strong enough (zoom in to see). Typical construction fencing. See it all the time.
Even with posts driven and cemented into the ground, people do what they want to do. I've never used wire cutters, but have climbed over fences.
Light fence
By anon
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 4:16pm
The photos Boston 25 has from Google Earth show an extremely lightweight fence at the bottom that is on a base that you can easily slide around. You can't tell if it's even zip tied in place. There's no signage. It also looks like a place that people might like to access during bad weather or to get out of view, which could be why the fence would have been moved.
The guy was an ultra-marathoner and if he was in the zone with music on, zoomed up a stairwell, it'd likely be too late before he noticed the steps were gone. This wasn't some kid doing parkour for instagram.
311 report from June 18, 2020
By AdamB
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 4:29pm
https://311.report/report/101003320833
or here from the city's website:
https://mayors24.cityofboston.gov/reports/10100332...
Several issues going on here
By Ari O
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 8:06am
Beyond the fact that this is an entirely preventable tragedy which falls squarely at the hands of the DCR and that heads should roll over this (but won't).
1) The DCR loves talking about safety … when it comes to cars. I've spent a lot of time with the DCR where they've said they can't narrow lanes on one of their roadways despite their own guidelines requiring them to do so because "something something safety." So when it comes to the parts of the DCR that cars drive over, safety is an issue. But other users? Who really cares.
2) "But we don't have the money!" I'm sure the DCR would say.
Will someone, anyone, please explain how there seems to be plenty of money to repave roadways, and no one sees the agency sticking their hand out asking for a donation there but when it comes to other properties, the DCR can't seem to find the money in the couch cushions to make improvements.
3) I assume part of the hold up here is that changes to the staircase would require ADA accessibility. In which case, it falls to the legislature and governor. But I'm sure Governor Teflon won't face any blame here, it's not like a state agency is at fault or anything.
The fencing looks very movable at the bottom.
By Section77
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 4:32pm
Looking at the street view it seems like it would be easy to rearrange what looks to be a temp job (from 2 years ago). Someone could have messed with it and the victim was unaware.
Tragedy
By Citizen
Mon, 09/13/2021 - 7:50pm
An avoidable tragedy…Godspeed.
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