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Aide's trial starts in autistic
boy's death
Edwin Tirado accused of smothering 13-year-old Jonathan Carey
October 1, 2007
By Robert Gavin
ALBANY -- On the next-to-last day
of their Caribbean cruise last February, Michael and Lisa Carey
bought souvenir T-shirts for their two sons and hoped to visit an
aquarium in St. Thomas. But first, Michael Carey called his Delmar
car dealership to check in.
Hundreds of miles away, at Solo
Auto Sales on Delaware Avenue, an employee picked up the phone and
delivered a message that would devastate -- and forever change --
the couple's lives: Their 13-year-old son, Jonathan, was dead.
 "He
said, 'Michael, something really bad has happened. Just be strong,'
" Michael Carey said, recalling the employee's words over a pay
phone on Friday, Feb. 16. "We fell on the sidewalk under the grief
of the news. To get that news on vacation, I can't put it in words."
One night earlier, the autistic boy
had stopped breathing during a van ride from the O.D. Heck
Developmental Center in Niskayuna to Crossgates Mall and never woke
up.
Today, more than seven months
later, one of two health aides allegedly responsible for the boy's
death will go to trial in Albany County Court. If convicted of
manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, he could spend up to
15 years in prison.
Michael Carey, with his
wife, Lisa, has publicly
forgiven the two men
accused in the death of
his son Jonathan.
As his O.D. Heck co-worker Nadeem
Mall drove the van, Edwin Tirado allegedly smothered Jonathan in a
failed attempt to restrain him.
Tirado, 36, and Mall, 33, drove
around for 90 minutes -- running errands, buying beverages and
shopping -- after Jonathan fell unconscious inside the van. A
16-year-old youth was also in the vehicle. Both men were charged
with manslaughter.
Mall, who accepted a plea deal in
July, will testify against Tirado. He's already begun serving a
six-month term in the Albany County jail for criminally negligent
homicide.
Tirado, who rejected a plea deal to
serve 4 to 12 years in state prison, is expected to take the witness
stand in his own defense.
"He wants the truth to come out,"
his attorney, Brian Donohue, said Friday.
Donohue noted Jonathan Carey was
under Mall's supervision. He said Tirado was caring for the
16-year-old youth in the van, who may testify for prosecutors.
"Edwin was left to be in charge of
two consumers -- and he shouldn't have even had to be caring for
Jonathan," Donohue said. "Jonathan Carey was Nadeem Mall's
responsibility that night."
He said Mall should not have been
driving the van, indicating he was the reason the van stopped for
errands after the boy became unconscious.
Among the evidence at prosecutors'
disposal are two two-hour interviews and a third video-taped
statement Tirado made to Colonie police. Donohue maintains the
statements are not accurate and tried to keep jurors from hearing
them at the trial.
He says his client was exhausted
and didn't believe he was free to leave the police station when
investigators quizzed him about Carey's death. But acting Supreme
Court Justice Dan Lamont denied his request to keep the statements
out of court.
Heather Orth, a spokeswoman for
Albany County District Attorney David Soares, declined to comment.
"I wish Ed Tirado would have done
the right thing earlier and would have saved me and my wife going
through this trial," said Michael Carey.
He has publicly forgiven both men,
and even shook Mall's hands after he pleaded guilty, but said they
still need to pay for what they did to his son. For the Careys, the
case extends beyond justice. The deeply religious couple have since
formed the nonprofit Jonathan Carey Foundation to advocate for the
mentally ill and help families facing situations such as theirs.
Their advocacy dates back to well
before their son's death.
The couple, in fact, took the
Caribbean cruise as an escape after more than two years of advocacy
on behalf of Jonathan.
In the fall of 2004, the Careys had
learned that workers at the privately operated Anderson School in
Dutchess County, where Jonathan had been staying since January 2003,
had allegedly deprived him of meals to try to change his behavior.
They found him with bruises and learned he had been isolated. Yet
despite a four-week state investigation, records were sealed -- with
no one held accountable, they said.
They pulled him out of the school,
which they are suing for nearly $6 million, and later placed
Jonathan at O.D. Heck.
Before their son's death, they
pushed for "Jonathan's Law," hoping to require records of potential
abuse and mistreatment of the mentally disabled be opened. Gov.
Eliot Spitzer signed the law in May.
"For me, I really want to thank the
Lord for giving us Jonathan," Michael Carey said. "Lisa and I are
extremely proud of him. Through his death, many others will live."
Rob Gavin can be reached at
434-2403 or by e-mail at
rgavin@timesunion.com.
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