Jury Finds No Criminal Action In Death Of Dennis Wing

A coroner’s inquest related to the 2022 death of Dennis Wing was held Jan. 31, at the Valley County Courthouse. According to law, the inquest is a formal inquiry into the causes and circumstances surrounding the death of a person and is conducted by the coroner before a jury. In the inquest, the jury consisted of seven individuals, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, who oversaw the proceedings, which included four testimonies, and Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen, who asked the witnesses questions regarding the situation leading up to and including Wing’s death.

Though Wing was not in law enforcement custody at the time of his death, as he passed while receiving medical care at Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital (FMDH), he was in custody prior to his death and had interactions with law enforcement hours prior to being admitted to FMDH. As a result of the unusual circumstances surrounding his death, the inquest was called.

As stated in the inquest, Wing was detained on March 13, 2022, while in the company of his father, Robert Wing, Sr., who was under investigation at the time for distribution of methamphetamine. The Valley County Sheriff Department intercepted the vehicle the Wings were traveling in and after doing a pat-down search on both Wings, they were handcuffed and placed in the same patrol vehicle.

Evidence showed during the inquest included video and audio from the night of the detainment, including several minutes of dash cam video and audio captured from within the patrol vehicle. The evidence showed that while in the patrol vehicle, Wing ingested an illicit substance, later determined to be methamphetamine. Although both men were handcuffed in the back of the patrol vehicle, they were able to maneuver enough for Wing, Sr. to pass drugs to his son to ingest. As one point, the jury heard Wing saying to Wing Sr. “I’m going to have to go the ER,” to which his father was heard stating, “Better to go to the ER than eight years in prison.”

After law enforcement searched the vehicle and the area around the vehicle, Valley County deputies on scene pulled both men out of the patrol vehicle, where they saw blue pills and Wing, Sr., pants further down than they were at the time of entering the vehicle. As a result, both men were transported to the detention center for further questioning and processing.

Though Wing was not placed under arrest, he was taken into custody for a urine sample at the direction of the probation department. While in custody, Wing was questioned by Valley County Sheriff Deputy Blagg, who told the jurors Wing was sweating, shaking uncontrollably and had a slurred speech during the interview. “I asked if he had consumed any drugs. He stated no and he hadn’t used meth for two weeks,” stated Blagg on the stand. As a result of Wing's symptoms, Blagg terminated the interview and returned to his office, while Wing continued to be in the detention center. As the evening went on, Wing continued to show strong symptoms of overdose. Law enforcement administered Narcan twice and the ambulance was summoned to transport him to the hospital. In the early hours of March 14, Wing passed after going into cardiac arrest.

Doctor Walter Kemp, the medical examiner for the State of Montana, also took the stand where he discussed what was found during Wing’s autopsy. He stated in addition to finding bruises on the body, he also found a plastic baggie in the stomach. A toxicology report was also done where a high concentration of methamphetamine was found. In Kemp’s postmortem report, it was indicated the cause of death was methamphetamine toxicity and also indicated the manner of death was accidental.

“Usually with drug overdoses, especially situations like this, he wasn’t intending to cause his death by doing that and didn’t necessarily realize what might happen,” stated Kemp in his testimony.

After hearing all four testimonies and asking questions throughout, the jury of seven reached a consensus, stating Wing’s death was not due to any criminal action of another.