Biloxi, Miss. Cops ID Man Who Stumbled on Casino Garage Roof, Fell to Death

Posted on: October 25, 2021, 10:10h. 

Last updated on: October 25, 2021, 12:45h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The man who accidentally fell to his death from the roof of Mississippi’s Hard Rock Biloxi Casino’s parking garage Friday night has been identified. He is Joseph Baynes, 45, of Daphne, Ala., and was reportedly celebrating his birthday at the time.

Hard Rock Biloxi
Mississippi’s Hard Rock Biloxi Casino, pictured above. The venue’s parking garage was the site of a man stumbling and falling to his death below. (Image: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The incident took place at about 11 pm. When police officers arrived, they pulled Baynes from Biloxi Small Craft Harbor.

He had stumbled on the garage’s roof after jumping onto the top of a support pillar, Biloxi police revealed in a Facebook post on Monday.

Head Injuries, Broken Bones

Baynes fell from the garage and suffered severe head injuries and broken bones, Biloxi police added.

Witness told officers that the man and some other people were walking to their motor vehicle on the garage’s top floor after spending the evening at the casino. Baynes was apparently with his wife and another couple when the fall took place, witnesses told police, as reported by WLOX, a local TV station.

No foul play is suspected at this time, but the investigation is ongoing,” the Biloxi police statement revealed.

He succumbed from blunt force trauma, Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer reported this weekend, according to Al.com, a regional news site in Alabama.

Earlier Fatal Falls, Jumps

Across the nation, other people have fallen or jumped from casino buildings.

Last month a man who jumped from the Strat Hotel, Casino & SkyPod in Las Vegas died from an apparent suicide, according to the Clark County Coroner’s office. The official cause of his demise was “blunt injuries,” the coroner’s office added. It was unclear why the 30-year-old resident of Henderson, Nev. apparently jumped, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

He landed near a ground-level entranceway close to a sidewalk along Las Vegas Boulevard, Vital Vegas reported.

In January, a woman fell from an upper floor of Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort parking garage onto the street below.

Cops found the body of the 29-year-old Philadelphia woman on New Jersey Avenue. She was lifeless when emergency medical technicians tried to treat her on the scene. They declared her dead. Police initially believe she fell from one of the upper levels of the gaming property’s parking garage. located near the boardwalk.

In September 2020, a man died in Atlantic City after he fell from the second level of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino onto the lobby floor. Hard Rock security officers and local EMTs tried to resuscitate the 30-year-old Rochester, N.Y. man. Despite their repeated efforts, he was pronounced dead at the resort casino, located on the boardwalk.

An initial inquiry revealed the man was trying to climb over a divider on the resort casino’s second floor when he fell, according to an Atlantic City police statement.