Olympia police chief asks for community’s patience as they investigate woman’s death

Olympia Police Chief Ronnie Roberts issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging that the recent death of west Olympia resident Yvonne McDonald, who was found on Division Street earlier this month, has raised many concerns and questions in the community.

“We ask for the community’s patience as the coroner’s report progresses and the investigation unfolds,” Chief Roberts said.

Like the community, the police want answers to the woman’s death, too, he said.

“Please know that the Olympia Police Department is committed to sharing all confirmed information that we can appropriately share,” he said. “However, there is currently much that we do not know and cannot know yet. There is also information that we will not share out of respect for the family and her personal and medical privacy.”

McDonald, 56, was found the morning of Aug. 7 lying in the yard of a home in the 900 block of Division Street Northwest, a few blocks from her apartment. Police said she was unconscious and partially clothed. She was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital, where she died that evening.

Olympia police Lt. Sam Costello said Friday that police are investigating her death but so far have not determined whether it was the result of a crime or an accident.

McDonald’s oldest sister, Cheryl Williams, said last week she is frustrated by the slow pace of the investigation. She said what police are telling her doesn’t line up with what she learned from the hospital.

Talauna Reed, McDonald’s niece, said her aunt had scratches, bruising and internal injuries, that she was found with her pants pulled down, and hospital staff told the family McDonald may have been sexually assaulted. Reed said she is sure McDonald did not die as the result of an accident.

“And if that’s how she did die, how come they haven’t figured it out yet?” she said.

Recent social media posts suggested McDonald was murdered but that police had ruled it an accident. Some suggested there was a lack of urgency in the investigation because McDonald was African-American. The case has caught the attention of activists who say they want to pressure police to move faster.

Chief Roberts said Tuesday that crucial questions about the circumstances of McDonald’s death may only be answered by information from the coroner.

“The Thurston County Coroner’s Office did conduct an autopsy and the results are pending,” he said. “However, the toxicology results are expected to take months to return.”

He added: “The police do not and cannot rule on cause of death.”

Thurston Coroner Gary Warnock, in an interview with KING 5 earlier this month, expressed his frustration with the Washington State Patrol crime lab and the time it now takes to get a toxicology report. The Seattle television station reported that in 2016 it took an average of 20 days, but this year it has grown to an average of 91 days.

The reason? Troopers are submitting twice as many toxicology samples as they did a decade ago to be more thorough in their DUI investigations, particularly in an era of wider marijuana and opioid use, according to KING 5.

Anyone with information about McDonald’s death is asked to contact Detective Al Weinnig at 360-753-8300 or aweinnig@ci.olympia.wa.us.

This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Olympia police chief asks for community’s patience as they investigate woman’s death."