Story Highlights
• 7 ex-boot camp guards and a
nurse were charged with aggravated manslaughter
• Martin Lee Anderson, 14, collapsed and died after being
roughed up by guards
•The incident involving the teen was captured on videotape
• A special prosecutor was called in to investigate
PENSACOLA, Florida (AP)
-- Seven former guards and a nurse at a military-style boot camp
for juvenile offenders were charged with aggravated manslaughter
in the death of a teenage boy whose rough handling by the guards
was videotaped, a special prosecutor said Tuesday.
The announcement by
Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober comes almost 11
months after Martin Lee Anderson, 14, collapsed in the exercise
yard at the Bay County sheriff's camp in Panama City.
Guards said he was
uncooperative and refused to continue participating in
exercises. He died early January 6 in Pensacola.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney
for Anderson's parents, was in Panama City with the family
Tuesday and did not immediately return a call for comment.
The boy's death sparked
protests that led to the elimination of the military-style boot
camp system and the resignation of the state's top law
enforcement officer. His family had also demanded that the
guards be charged in the boy's death.
If convicted, the former guards
and the nurse who watched the altercation could face up to 30
years in prison. (Watch
how a videotape led to charges
)
Bob Pell, an attorney who
represents former guard Joseph Walsh II, said he learned of the
decision to charge his client from The Associated Press.
"I didn't anticipate it. I was
hoping cooler heads would prevail, but we will deal with this as
it comes down. We understood the political pressure that was
brought to bear," he said.
An initial autopsy by medical
examiner Dr. Charles Siebert found Anderson died of
complications of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood
disorder.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appointed
Ober in February to investigate the death after the state
attorney for Bay County asked to be removed from the case citing
close ties with local law enforcement.
Ober ordered a second autopsy
by Dr. Vernard Adams, the medical examiner for Hillsborough
County. Adams determined Anderson's death was caused by
suffocation due to the actions of the guards.
He said the guards' hands
blocked the boy's mouth, and the "forced inhalation of ammonia
fumes" caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his upper
airway.
The guards had said in an
incident report that they used ammonia capsules five times on
Anderson to gain his cooperation.
Siebert has consistently stood
by his findings.
"We'll obviously follow the
developments of this case closely and hope at the end of the day
that justice will be served," Bush said Tuesday. "We also hope
that once the process is completed that Martin Lee Anderson's
family will have the answers to the questions that they
legitimately have."
Anderson's family has sued the
state Department of Juvenile Justice, which oversaw the boot
camp system, and the Bay County Sheriff's Office, which ran the
camp, seeking more than $40 million in damages.
