St. Tammany Parish coroner positively identifies Covington homicide victim
Published 11:01 am Friday, July 29, 2022
St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston said the homicide victim discovered in Covington early Tuesday has been positively identified through dental records as Jyrion Dangerfield, 20, of Hammond.
Although the victim’s family has already come forward to various news media outlets, Preston held off confirming Dangerfield’s identity until there was scientific evidence.
Positive identification is determined through direct ID from a family member, either of the person or a photograph of the decedent’s face or other identifiers, such as tattoos or scars; a DNA match; or dental records.
“In a case like this, showing Mr. Dangerfield’s photograph to his next of kin would have been inappropriate, at best,” Preston said. “Although we had a presumptive identification of the body within hours of his discovery, positive identification is not something my office will rush.”
Dangerfield’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest. His manner of death, as has already been reported, was homicide.
