Teen's death at wrecking yard ruled accidental

The state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has made a preliminary ruling that a teen's death in a Lynnwood wrecking yard last week was accidental and had nothing to do with his regular job duties there.

Harvey Bell, a compliance supervisor with L&I's Snohomish County office, said Josh McMahon was standing near a 12-foot-high gantry crane last Wednesday when it slipped on loose gravel at Pull-A-Part and fell on him.

"He was talking to a customer who was pulling a V-8 engine out of a Ford," Bell said Monday.

Josh, 16, had been working at the company at 18306 Highway 99 less than two months, according to his mother, Connie McMahon.

L&I investigators initially looked into whether any child-labor laws had been broken because Josh was working near heavy equipment. Bell said the investigation should take a few more weeks to complete.

Connie McMahon said her son was hired to pick up tires. She had no idea he could be in any danger.

"The fact that there was anything in there that could have tipped over, that's what the surprise is," McMahon said Monday. "I still want to know why they had a piece of equipment that would tip over."

McMahon said her son started work June 25, just after he turned 16, and worked 20 hours a week. She said officials at Snohomish County Juvenile Drug Court, a chemical-dependency program for teens facing prosecution, helped him find the job because he wanted to become a mechanic.

McMahon said her son had been arrested on suspicion of stealing a car and hit-and-run. She said he was addicted to marijuana at the time, so he entered the Drug Court program to get treatment and to have the arrests removed from his record.

He still was in the program at the time of his death and was signed up to take classes this fall in the automotive-technology program at Lake Washington Vocational Technical College, his mother said.

Under the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, L&I has cited Ferrill's Auto Parts, which owns Pull-A-Part, for 21 violations since 1997, said L&I spokeswoman Elaine Fischer.

Fischer said nine of those violations are considered "serious" — including a improper storage of flammables. The company also has been cited for 11 "general" violations — including not teaching employees what to do in hazardous situations.

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com