Man dies after beaten in fight

Coroner’s office ruled cause of death as ‘pending.’

— Sheriff’s HARRISON TWP. detectives are awaiting autopsy results to determine whether a man severely beaten by a friend in Harrison Twp. died as a result of that assault, officials said Monday.

Paul Lamb III, 48, of Lima, died early Saturday morning in the 2600 block of Onoata Avenue. Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies went to the address around 2:30 a.m. after friends called 911 to report he wasn’t breathing. Before deputies arrived at the scene, a 911 dispatcher instructed Lamb’s friends on how to perform CPR on him.

Prior to calling for help, the friends drove Lamb to the Onoata Avenue address following a fight on Keenan Avenue earlier that evening. Lamb reportedly engaged in an altercation with an unidentified man during a party — officials declined to release the man’s name.

The argument turned physical. Both men were believed to have been drinking prior to the assault, said Maj. Daryl Wilson.

“He had numerous injuries, an indication of a fight, from his neck to his head to his knees to his elbows,” Wilson said of Lamb.

There were several witnesses to the fight, and investigators interviewed the person who allegedly fought Lamb, Wilson said. Wilson said he remains a “person of interest” in the case, but has not been charged pending further investigation. Autopsy and toxicology results will help determine if Lamb died as a result of the assault, whether or not his wounds were defensive, and if the case is a homicide, Wilson said.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled the cause of death as “pending” due to inconclusive preliminary results. It could take up to eight weeks for full results and determine the manner in which Lamb died, officials said.