Ashley's Foundation

No foul play is suspected in woman's death in India Metairie 21-year-old apparently fell off roof of Buddhist center

TIMES-PICAYUNE, Saturday, March 25, 2006

A 21-year-old Metairie woman who died earlier this month while participating in an overseas study program in India fell 30 feet to her death from a rooftop meditation site at a Buddhist retreat center, her father said Friday.

The conclusions of Stephen Conroy, along with Jefferson Parish and Indian coroners' reports, dismiss any suspicions of foul play in the death of Ashley Conroy, a 2003 graduate of St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie and a junior at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Conroy sustained blunt trauma to the head and a severed neck, along with severe knee damage, after falling from the roof of a three-story residential building, her father said. The accident occurred March 11 around 4 a.m. at the Root Institute, a major Buddhist center in Bodhgaya.

Stephen Conroy, a lawyer, blamed the accident on negligence, saying the flat roof where guests typically go to meditate or take in the scenery did not have protective railing or lighting. He said his daughter apparently fell when she walked too close to the edge on her way to the staircase.

"They encourage people to go up on the roof, and it's a lousy roof design," said Conroy, who traveled to India last week with the dead woman's mother, Cynthia Schmidt.

With assistance from U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, who is of Indian heritage, the Indian Parliament and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, Conroy and Schmidt were able to visit the site, meet with Indian authorities and Root Institute officials and interview other participants in the study program, run by the U.S.-based Pacific Village Institute.

"I wanted to eliminate any possibility of foul play," Conroy said, adding that he and Schmidt are satisfied that their daughter's death was an accident. "There was no foul play other than a horribly designed roof situation that needs to be corrected."

Conroy said he does not plan to take legal action against the Root Institute as long as it installs adequate railings and lighting and blocks access to the roof until that work is completed. He said the insitute has agreed to do the work, and to erect a small memorial in his daughter's name.

The Conroy and Schmidt families, along with Pacific Village, have established the Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation to provide scholarships to highly qualified students who wish to study in India or other foreign countries. Donations may be sent in care of Paul Navarro to The Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation, c/o AmSouth Bank, 3525 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie,La. 70002 or to the Foundation located at Three Lakeway Center,3838 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite 3130, Metairie,La.,70002.

By Barri Bronston
East Jefferson bureau

		No foul play is suspected in woman's death in India Metairie 21-year-old apparently fell off roof of Buddhist center TIMES-PICAYUNE, Saturday, March 25, 2006 A 21-year-old Metairie woman who died earlier this month while participating in an overseas study program in India fell 30 feet to her death from a rooftop meditation site at a Buddhist retreat center, her father said Friday. The conclusions of Stephen Conroy, along with Jefferson Parish and Indian coroners' reports, dismiss any suspicions of foul play in the death of Ashley Conroy, a 2003 graduate of St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie and a junior at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Conroy sustained blunt trauma to the head and a severed neck, along with severe knee damage, after falling from the roof of a three-story residential building, her father said. The accident occurred March 11 around 4 a.m. at the Root Institute, a major Buddhist center in Bodhgaya. Stephen Conroy, a lawyer, blamed the accident on negligence, saying the flat roof where guests typically go to meditate or take in the scenery did not have protective railing or lighting. He said his daughter apparently fell when she walked too close to the edge on her way to the staircase. "They encourage people to go up on the roof, and it's a lousy roof design," said Conroy, who traveled to India last week with the dead woman's mother, Cynthia Schmidt. With assistance from U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, who is of Indian heritage, the Indian Parliament and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, Conroy and Schmidt were able to visit the site, meet with Indian authorities and Root Institute officials and interview other participants in the study program, run by the U.S.-based Pacific Village Institute. "I wanted to eliminate any possibility of foul play," Conroy said, adding that he and Schmidt are satisfied that their daughter's death was an accident. "There was no foul play other than a horribly designed roof situation that needs to be corrected." Conroy said he does not plan to take legal action against the Root Institute as long as it installs adequate railings and lighting and blocks access to the roof until that work is completed. He said the insitute has agreed to do the work, and to erect a small memorial in his daughter's name. The Conroy and Schmidt families, along with Pacific Village, have established the Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation to provide scholarships to highly qualified students who wish to study in India or other foreign countries. Donations may be sent in care of Paul Navarro to The Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation, c/o AmSouth Bank, 3525 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie,La. 70002 or to the Foundation located at Three Lakeway Center,3838 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite 3130, Metairie,La.,70002. By Barri Bronston East Jefferson bureau
		© 2006 The Ashley Soule Conroy Foundation. All rights reserved. The Ashley Soulé Conroy Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.