West Bank brothers died from suffocating on toxic gas at fishing plant, coroner says

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The Plaquemines Parish Coroner’s Office said Thursday (Oct. 29) that two brothers died at a fishing plant in September from suffocating on hydrogen sulfide gas.

The Coroner’s Office said their deaths were both accidents.

Plaquemines Parish Coroner Dr. Neil Wolfson identified the men last month as Yesser and Elliott Rizo-Acevedo. Wolfson said the men lived in the West Bank.

The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office said the deadly incident on Sept. 4 involved hazardous material at Daybrook Fisheries in Empire, a commercial menhaden fish processing plant where the men worked. Wolfson said hydrogen sulfide is a byproduct of dead menhaden fish.

Westbank Fishing, the fishing company partnered with Daybrook Fisheries, which employed the brothers directly, said shortly after the incident that two of their employees died “during unloading operations.”

“The site is secure, and there is no ongoing risk to employees or the surrounding community,” the company said at the time.

It added that the incident was under investigation by both law enforcement and regulatory authorities and that it wouldn’t make any further comment while any investigation was active.

An attorney for the brothers’ family, Daryl Gray, said the week following their deaths that he and Jimmy Harris, who is also a state senator, represented the men’s family.

Gray claimed it was chemicals from decomposing fish that killed the brothers, saying one man died while trying to save the other.

“These families have experienced a tragic and profound loss,” Gray and Harris said in a statement. “Like any family facing this level of tragedy, their call for justice is absolute.”

Gray added the attorneys look forward to reviewing the results of any investigation into the case.

“Justice means getting the truth, following the evidence wherever it leads and accountability where the evidence warrants it,” he wrote.

Fox 8 reached out to the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries about where any such investigations might stand.

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