Inquest will examine inmate death

BENTON, Mo. -- An autopsy performed Friday on an inmate who died in the Scott County Jail didn't immediately reveal a cause of death, but county coroner Scott Amick said toxicology reports could contain the answer.

A fellow inmate discovered Ernest L. Fenton, 43, of Fayette, Mo., unconscious Thursday on a mattress he had dragged onto the floor of his cell, Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell said. The inmate alerted guards, and an ambulance rushed Fenton to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, where he was pronounced dead.

Ferrell said there will be a coroner's inquest next week, but the date and time hasn't been scheduled.

Fenton and his brother Troy Fenton, 36, of Boonville, Mo., were jailed without bond on charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute and two counts of armed criminal action. They are accused of robbing the Sikeston, Mo., Super D Drug Store at gunpoint on Wednesday, making off with morphine-based painkillers and other drugs and then hiding out in a house near the junction of Ingram Road and Highway HH just north of the Sikeston city limits.

The two reportedly shot Sikeston police detective Lt. Mark Crocker in the right calf from a window before setting the house on fire and surrendering. Crocker is recovering from surgery performed at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Troy Fenton's girlfriend, Chris Bell, 31, said he called her around 6 p.m. Thursday. It was about two hours after Ernest Fenton went to the hospital.

"He told me he thinks Ernie overdosed," she said. "I don't know what they got out of that drug store. They should have gone to the hospital first before jail."

Bell said the brothers recently had started building a relationship after years of estrangement. Ernest Fenton was released from prison in just the last year, and Troy Fenton has served time as well.

She said she hadn't seen her boyfriend of four months since early September, the night before a raid on her Boonville home, where he was living. Local police were looking for him -- he was wanted in connection with six armed robberies across central Missouri.

Called during confrontation

But he called her from the road, including a call placed during Wednesday's confrontation with police. Bell said he told her the police were shooting at him and he wanted to say goodbye.

Sikeston police say the Fentons shot at them from the windows of the hideout at 106 Little St., and an officer returned only one round after Crocker was hit.

Bell said she is having a difficult time understanding how her boyfriend, who has liver cancer, could be accused of the crimes. Her three children, ages 12, 10 and 5, adore him.

"I know a really sweet guy who could not have done any of those things," she said.

She said she wanted to see him today to comfort him about his brother's death, but only relatives are being allowed visiting time.

Amick said it could take more than a month to get the toxicology results for Ernest Fenton. Dr. Michael Zaricor, a medical examiner, performed the autopsy in his Farmington, Mo., office and found no cuts or bruises, Amick said.

He wouldn't speculate on the cause of death.

hhall@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 121