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Jury: Aide killed teen Panel finds
O.D. Heck worker guilty of manslaughter in the death of a
13-year-old autistic youth
October 11, 2007
By Robert Gavin
 ALBANY
-- A state health aide was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday for
smothering an autistic teenager last winter and leaving him
unconscious in a van as he stopped for beverages and a video game --
without ever trying to help. Edwin Tirado, 36, of Schenectady, was
found guilty after jurors deliberated for roughly four hours in
Albany County Court, one day after he took the witness stand in his
own defense.
Refuting allegations he "squeezed
the life" of 13-year-old Jonathan Carey on Feb. 15, Tirado had hoped
jurors would disregard testimony from a former co-defendant -- and
his own past statements to police.
Instead, the jury found he
recklessly took the boy's life while restraining him during an
ill-fated field trip to Crossgates Mall that began at the O.D. Heck
Developmental Center in Niskayuna and ultimately ended with two men
in handcuffs.
Michael and Lisa Carey leave
the courtroom
 Tirado
now faces 5 to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 14.
"I'm grateful for the justice
because I know this had to be," the boy's father, Michael Carey of
Glenmont, told reporters moments after the 12-member jury rendered
its decision.
Standing nearby, his wife, Lisa,
said, "Today is a very sad day for us and the Tirado family."
Tirado, a Brooklyn native who
became a developmental aide at O.D. Heck in 2002, had been free on
bail. He was placed in handcuffs following the verdict.
Michael Carey embraces his
sister, Maureen Bub
Wiping away tears, Tirado's family
members quickly rushed out of the courtroom of acting Supreme Court
Justice Dan Lamont, saying the aide did not receive a fair trial.
"Ed, I love you ...," his brother,
Frankie Tirado, exclaimed as officers escorted his brother away.
Tirado's attorney, Brian Donohue,
said he told him "Ed, I'm sorry," following the verdict.
Asked to speculate on the jury's
reasoning, the attorney noted the child's death, adding: "The jury
thought that someone had to pay for it."
Donohue said he plans to appeal the
conviction.
Assistant District Attorney David
Rossi, who only took over the case in the summer, told jurors in
closing arguments that Tirado's testimony had been evasive and
contradictory. After the verdict, he downplayed its impact, telling
reporters what "really sealed the deal" was Tirado not seeking help
for the child on Feb. 15.
"It was justice. It was the right
thing to do," he said, adding, "I don't really feel like
celebrating."
The case went to trial after Tirado
rejected a plea bargain that would have sent him to prison for 4 to
12 years. His former co-defendant, Nadeem Mall, 33, pleaded guilty
to criminally negligent homicide in July.
He began serving a six-month
sentence in the Albany County jail in early September, under a plea
agreement that required he testify against Tirado.
Mall was among close to 20
witnesses -- including the child's mother -- who took the witness
stand. Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, Mall testified that Tirado
told him to keep driving after the boy fell unconscious, and hoped
to cover it up, saying, "When we get back to O.D. Heck, we'll just
say he stopped breathing. We just found that out."
The pair were arrested after
Colonie police interviewed them and learned they drove around for 90
minutes without coming to the boy's aid.
First, violating policy, they
stopped at a Hannaford supermarket on Wolf Road. Then, as Mall
argued over a bank transaction in the store, Tirado began
restraining an unruly Carey. When initial efforts to restrain the
child failed, he used a straitjacket-like "seated wrap" maneuver for
15 minutes -- and was later "essentially sitting" on the child,
Rossi said. Mall and Tirado realized the boy had stopped breathing
at a Hess station on Central Avenue in Colonie, where they stopped
for beverages. But instead of performing CPR or calling for help,
they kept driving, according to Tirado's statements to police and
testimony from Mall.
The pair then stopped at the EB
Games store at Mohawk Commons in Niskayuna, where Tirado made a
purchase, and drove to Tirado's house to drop it off.
Jurors started deliberating
Wednesday afternoon after hearing instructions from Lamont. They
later sent notes to the judge, asking that he explain the difference
between the two charges Tirado faced: manslaughter and criminally
negligent homicide.
Jurors had also asked to see a Feb.
16 videotape, filmed inside the van. On it, Tirado spoke to town of
Colonie Police, demonstrating on one investigator how he restrained
the boy one night earlier.
Lisa Carey said she believed the
videotape being replayed for jurors made a difference in the final
verdict.
In closing arguments, Donohue had
said his client was exhausted when interviewed by Colonie police
without being read his rights. Allegations of Tirado's guilt only
surfaced after investigators spoke to a 16-year-old developmentally
disabled youth who was in the van that night, he said.
Donohue said the boy, whose IQ is
about 50, is known for concocting tall tales. Tirado, he said, is
nothing more than a scapegoat.
Rossi told jurors no one else but
Tirado laid hands on the boy. He said a medical examiner ruled the
child died from asphyxia as a result of chest compression. And he
directly attributed that to Tirado's efforts to restrain the child
inside the van, after Tirado and Mall stopped outside a Hannaford
supermarket.
Rossi questioned Tirado's argument
that his videotaped statement to police is inaccurate. Tirado
testified that after he gave statement to police, they asked him to
corroborate his words on camera. Rossi notes Tirado, at the same
time, is challenging the accuracy of the initial statements and
saying he signed them without ever reading them.
Mall will be sentenced on Oct. 19.
Tirado's sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 14. He retains
employment, on unpaid leave, at O.D. Heck until an internal probe is
complete, said Kara Smith. a spokeswoman for the state Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
Gavin can be reached at 434-2403 or
by e-mail at
rgavin@timesunion.com.
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