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Initial autopsy:
Restrained teen was suffocated
Lancaster New Era (PA)
Publication Date: February
9, 2006
CINDY STAUFFER
Initial autopsy findings show
that a teen who died in Ephrata over the weekend suffocated
while being held down, the attorney for the teen's parents
said today.
Giovanni Aletriz, 16, of
Allentown, died Saturday.
He was a resident of
SummitQuest Academy, a facility that treats boys with mental
health and sex offender problems.
His death was the second
one in two months at the behavioral treatment center.
Aletriz was taken to Ephrata
Community Hospital after he became ill while being
restrained by SummitQuest staff due to disruptive behavior,
according to Ephrata Borough Police, who are investigating
the death.
He died at the hospital a
few hours later.
His family hired an
independent forensic pathologist, Dr. John Shane, to attend
the teen's autopsy Tuesday.
Their attorney, Peter
Karoly of Allentown, held a press conference today to
announce the preliminary findings of that autopsy.
Aletriz's death "most likely
resulted in the victim being held in a face down position
forcefully," Karoly said today.
Lancaster County Coroner
Dr. G. Gary Kirchner reiterated a statement he made earlier
this week that no ruling has been made in Aletriz's death
because drug and tissue tests are still pending.
"We have no position
whatsoever," Kirchner said.
"We have listed it as
pending."
SummitQuest officials did not
return calls for comment by press time.
Karoly agreed that further
tests need to be done, but said initial findings are
indicating the teen suffocated.
Aletriz suffered a number of
injuries consistent with that finding, Karoly said.
The autopsy showed
evidence of a traumatic injury to the left side of the
teen's head, chest compression, lesions inside his
shoulders, and bleeding near his shoulder blade, in his ribs
and in his spinal area, the attorney said.
The teen, who was 6 feet 1
inch tall and weighed 260 pounds, also had bite marks on his
lips and tongue and stomach material in his nose, also
indicators that he suffocated, Karoly said.
SummitQuest officials told
Aletriz's parents he died from congestive heart failure,
Karoly said.
Aletriz's mother previously
said her son recently underwent an electrocardiogram, which
did not uncover problems.
Aletriz had lived at
SummitQuest about three months.
He had been diagnosed as
being bipolar and had struggled with anger problems, his
mother said.
"I think the fact that
this young man, age 16, died in such a horrible way is
outrageous on the heels of the death in December, just two
months ago," Karoly said.
"We have heard rumors that
things aren't well at SummitQuest Academy and will be
conducting a thorough investigation."
Another SummitQuest
resident, James White, 17, of Philadelphia, died Dec. 12.
An autopsy conducted here
showed he had an enlarged heart and died of natural causes.
State Department of Public
Welfare officials visited SummitQuest after White's death
and found no wrongdoing.
Public welfare officials also
visited SummitQuest officials earlier this week to look into
Aletriz's death.
Earlier this week,
SummitQuest officials released a statement saying the staff
follows a crisis management procedure developed by the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's West Psychiatric
Institute.
The techniques include ways
to safely use manual restraint in the presence of a nurse.
Manual restraint is used
only when a resident poses a risk of harm to himself or
others, the statement said.
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