PITTSBURGH Player's death comes after fall inside church

Billy Gaines was living in the church after his apartment was destroyed by fire.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- University of Pittsburgh wide receiver Billy Gaines tried to get off a narrow catwalk above a sanctuary ceiling at night before he lost his balance and fell through a ceiling and onto a pew below, his roommate said.
Gaines, 19, died Thursday of spinal injuries and a fractured skull from the 25-foot fall at St. Anne Church in Homestead, south of Pittsburgh. The same day, friends and family arrived from his Maryland hometown in grief and Gaines' mother expressed anger about the accident.
Gaines' roommate and teammate, Pitt place-kicker David Abdul, said he and Gaines set out to explore the church late Tuesday and early Wednesday while four of their teammates waited. The friends, who were hanging out after a cookout, had not been drinking, Abdul said.
Awaiting test results
Police were waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if alcohol played a part in the accident.
Abdul said he and Gaines climbed above the sanctuary's ceiling, onto the catwalk usually used to change ceiling lights and snaked their way out several yards before deciding to turn back. As they turned back, Abdul said, Gaines lost his balance.
"We were out there pretty far and we decided we should turn around," Abdul said. "He just slipped and fell."
After the high school football star fell through a suspended tile ceiling and onto a pew, friends, including Pitt player Neal Tracey, ran to his side.
"I was just holding his head. Neal tried to give him mouth-to-mouth. He was breathing," Abdul said.
Gaines' mother, Kimberly, said no one from the church talked to her when she went to collect her son's belongings. Gaines was temporarily living at St. Anne with Abdul after their apartment was destroyed by a fire.
"They packed up all his stuff and put it out in the hall," she said. "Nobody has even welcomed us or apologized."
The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, declined comment on the accident, citing a police investigation. He confirmed the church pastor, Rev. Henry R. Krawczyk, was present when Gaines fell.
Krawczyk has asked to be temporarily relieved of duty, Lengwin said.
High school star
Before accepting a scholarship to Pitt, the 5-foot-7, 170-pound Gaines caught the touchdown pass that helped Urbana High School win the 2001 Maryland state championship. His team set a state record by winning 50 straight games.
After learning of Gaines' accident, more than 300 friends and fans gathered at the school's football field Wednesday night to attend a prayer vigil for him.
Gaines, from Ijamsville, Md., returned punts for the Panthers as a freshman before breaking his foot. The team declared him healthy this spring and expected him to compete in fall camp for playing time at wide receiver.
"Many people saw Billy Gaines as simply a football player. He was so much more. Billy was a faithful son, brother, friend and teammate," Pitt coach Walt Harris said Thursday in a statement issued by the athletic department.