RICHMOND, Va. -- For the first time, the family of 32-year-old Edward Derrick Christian shared their thoughts and concerns since Christian died in a tragic incident while on the job.
On Sept. 14, Christian was killed after an already toppled and leaning tree fell on him as he was working storm cleanup at Libby Hill Park. Christian was an employee with the City of Richmond's Department of Public Works as a maintenance worker in the grounds division.
Christian's family shared a statement with CBS 6, remembering him as a "loving son, grandson, uncle, nephew and friend."
"Derrick was so looking forward to this month as he had planned on taking a couple of weeks off for hunting with his grandfather and Ruthville Gun and Rod Hunt Club. Derrick is, and will be, surely missed," the family said.
But family members said they're far from getting closure.
"The family still has questions about how this incident happened," they said.
Through a public records request, CBS 6 obtained the recording of the 911 calls from the day of the incident.
“The tree fell on him," a caller frantically reported to 911 around 11:25 a.m. on September 14.
“Is the person conscious and breathing?” the operator asked.
“Yes, he’s going in and out of consciousness. It’s a big tree. It’s on him," the caller responded.
Another person then stated during the same phone call, "a work crew was out here trimming a dead tree, and it fell on a gentleman. He's not moving. He's definitely got broken bones."
Christian's role that day was to remove debris, which included the use of a chainsaw to cut limbs, according to city spokesperson Petula Burks.
"Mr. Christian was properly trained and had performed this activity on numerous occasions over his 12 years working within the Grounds Maintenance division," Burks said.
According to a police incident report that the family obtained through a public records request, Christian suffered injuries to the left side of his chest. He was pronounced dead at a hospital at 12:06 p.m.
The state Department of Labor and Industry's Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program launched an investigation into the incident, and as of November 2, the investigation remains ongoing.
The family has also raised concerns about the condition of the fallen tree prior to it falling and needing to be cleaned up by maintenance workers.
"Why wasn't this tree removed prior to this accident considering complaints to the city? The tree was dead and now so is our loved one," they said in a statement.
Neighbors told CBS 6 that the tree first fell over onto its side during a powerful storm on Sept. 7. According to pictures and videos they shared with CBS 6, the tree was tilted on its side but still elevated above the ground as some branches and limbs appeared to be holding it up.
Even years before the storm, some of those neighbors said they had been concerned that the tree was possibly unsafe.
“This tree is wild. You can see through it. So, if you're walking the path coming up, you could see light through it. And then if you kind of duck down, you can actually see the river through the tree," said Church Hill resident Kelly Barnes.
Certified arborist Joel Koci observed the fallen tree and said the trunk appeared to be rotting and should've been a "prime candidate" for removal prior to it failing.
"This tree had many defects," Koci said.
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Neighbors were concerned about tree that killed Richmond worker
On Sept. 18, CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for documentation over previous years about the tree's condition, assessments, and complaints from neighbors.
However, the City of Richmond withheld the records, pointing to an ongoing OSHA investigation, yet citing a FOIA exemption for law enforcement criminal investigations.
That exemption was not applicable to CBS 6's request, according to FOIA experts with the Virginia FOIA Council and Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
So, CBS 6 filed a writ of mandamus lawsuit in Richmond General District Court alleging the city failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.
On Nov. 1, the day before the scheduled hearing, the City of Richmond provided all the documents they said were responsive to CBS 6's request.
Dating back eight years ago, the tree was listed to be in "poor condition" according to the city's interactive tree map completed in 2015.
Since then, according to records provided by the city, the tree has only received maintenance work one time, which included standard pruning in June 2020.
On Aug. 29, 2023, a neighbor who said they live across from the tree submitted a 311 report to the city with safety concerns.
"There are new large cracks at the base, and it looks like it is falling over and could really injure someone," the resident stated.
The resident added that the tree "appears dead or mostly dead."
According to Burks, the tree was then inspected by the Urban Forestry Department on August 31 and was referred for removal. However, Burks said it had not yet been placed on an official list for removal.
The service request for the tree's removal was still listed as "open" before it fell during the September storm.
Meanwhile, some other neighbors said they had the opposite concerns about trees in the park.
Tess Dixon, a member of the Church Hill Association but commenting as an individual, said "a number of people in the neighborhood are concerned about the decimation of our tree canopy and about too many trees being removed by the city."
Dixon said a number of other trees, which she said were young and healthy, fell during the storm that toppled the tree in question.
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