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MY JOEY
 Joey was a resident of SummitQuest, a treatment
facility in Ephrata, PA. He was there for two months when I got the
call from SummitQuest, “Ms. Allen, we had to restrain Joey and
during the restraint he went into cardiac arrest.” They told me my
son was dead. On February 4, 2006, they killed my son while
restraining him.
The preliminary autopsy report showed my son
died of POSITIONAL APHYXIATION. The Lancaster County coroner, Dr.
Kirchner, and Dr. John Shane, a private pathologist employed by us,
both concluded this. They are waiting for the tissue and toxicology
reports, but that will not change the fact that my son was brutally
beaten and then suffocated to death.
The autopsy report showed evidence of a
traumatic injury to the left side of his head (a hemotoma on the
side of his head from his temple to his jaw), chest compression,
lesions inside his shoulders, and bleeding near his shoulder blade,
in his ribs and in his spinal area. He had bite marks on his lips
and tongue. Joey had a black eye, vomit in his nasal cavity,
indicating he suffocated, a mark down by his appendix area that was
consistent with a fist or kick mark, multiple bruises, and Pettichae
(small bruises that form in the eye when someone has suffocated.)
Joey was a brother, a nephew, a grandson, a
cousin and a friend to all. The world will not be the same without
my son. He was a talented artist and he was very bright. I tried to
get help for my son because he was bored in school. Joey was not
sent to SummitQuest to be punished, he was sent there to help manage
his anger. Joey was not born bipolar. The disease manifested itself
when he turned sixteen. He could not understand what was happening
to him and needed help. Hospital stays only made it worse.
Everyone loved Joey and everyone tried to help
him through his disorder. The sad thing is it took Joey’s childhood
away from him. He was a very polite child, always eager to please.
He was well-mannered and polite.
So many people showed up for Joey’s burial that
we literally had to turn people away.
SummitQuest said Joey died because he had
become so irate that he had to be restrained. They said he suffered
cardiac arrest as a result. I am a nurse of fifteen years and I am
Joey’s mom. I do not believe my son died of a bad heart.
SummitQuest said Joey was alright following the
restraint, and that later he fell. They claim it was that fall that
caused his death.
Joey's Mom, Cynthia Allen
April 1, 2006
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