FL boot camp guards kill teen - first report: "sickle cell disease" denied

[Julius Civitatus]

Another mind-bending horror story from Florida:

Guards suffocated teen at boot camp, autopsy finds

TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- A 14-year-old boy beaten by guards at a juvenile boot camp died because the guards suffocated him, a medical examiner said Friday.

The findings of the second autopsy on Martin Lee Anderson conflict with the initial ruling from a different medical examiner that the boy died from complications of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder.

The videotape shows Anderson being kneed, struck and dragged by guards on his first day at the Bay County Sheriff's boot camp for juvenile offenders. He was eventually taken to a Pensacola hospital, where he died a few hours later, on January 6.

No one has been arrested in connection with the death, which sparked protests at the state Capitol, forced lawmakers to scrap the military-style camps and led to the resignation of the state's top law enforcement officer.

(...)

Watch the VIDEO here (warning: it's disturbing):

http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/2006/05/060505bootcamp2.shtml (real media)

or here:

http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_125144809.html (Flash video)

[paul_fromatlanta]

1. Just a warning - the video is upsetting. n/t

[Julius Civitatus]

8. Added a warning. Thanks.

[Vidar]

2. Just like Alexei Romanov died of hemophilia.

[Kutjara]

3. The Cynical View.

According to the NIH website entry on Sickle Cell disease (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000527.htm), the "fragile, sickle-shaped cells deliver less oxygen to the body's tissues."

Who wants to bet that the defense team of these brutal assholes will claim that the boy died because the lower oxygen capacity of his bloodcells made him far more prone to anoxyia and suffocation than a 'normal' person, and that, therefore, they weren't responsible for his death? They'll trot out dozens of cases in which they treated inmates similarly without killing them, to defend their brutal behaviour.

The jury will probably believe them.

[Julius Civitatus]

4. Yeah, never mind the bruises, kicks, choking or stomping on the guy

It was all about that weird disease that black people get. Nothing to see here, move along.

:sarcasm:

[Kutjara]

6. And never mind that...

...trying to breath through a nosefull of ammonia is the surest way of clamping your throat shut.

I really hope they pick a jury with a shred of sense this time.

[Julius Civitatus]

7. Brutality is seeping everywhere through our society, it's sickening

This type of news keep popping up everywhere, and we even export of methods abroad (Abu Grahib, Guantanamo, etc).

We are quickly rotting to the core. We, as a society, have serious issues.

[Nikia]

9. Even if that were the case, what they did was criminal

The kid is at their mercy. He has trouble exercising so they beat him up. He has trouble staying conscious so they put smelling salts up his nose. They aren't seeing if he might be having a medical problem.
Whether or not, his condition had any affect on him dying, there are bound to be kids that go to such centers with things like heart problems and asthma. If one of the inmates is having a medical problem and they beat him instead of getting him medical attention, I would say that they are still responsible for his death.

[Kutjara]

10. Absolutely, but it is the difference...

...between manslaughter and murder.

If the thugs can show that they were merely negligent, they'll probably get off with manslaughter. If, however, it can be shown that their actions were intentional or reckless regarding causing serious harm, they might get murder 2.

I, for one, want these bastards hit with the maximum.

[yngliberal]

5. Terrible...

That is sickening to watch. Really sickening.

[FloridaPat]

11. TV reports were cause of death - natural causes. I wonder how much

you have to bribe or threaten a ME to get that kind of decision under these circumstances.

[Imagevision]

12. While Doc performing first autopsy stands by his findings!!

even Jeb says he should be fired

[Julius Civitatus]

14. I saw the smiling bastard on CNN

proudly boasting that "the science backs his findings." All while a second autopsy shows the real causes of the boy's death.

[northofdenali]

13. IIRC, the head of the State Police resigned -

he was the one who initiated the "boot camps" in the first place, and also "stood by" the quack medical examiner's findings.

Poor Florida. I was born there, my mom lives there now, and it just seems that the next hurricane wiping it off the map may be the best that could happen to it. I love Central Florida (particularly Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach) but don't want to even visit any more.