|
Posted on Fri, May. 05, 2006
2nd autopsy
finds boy hit at boot camp died of suffocation
MITCH STACY
Associated Press
TAMPA,
Fla. -
A 14-year-old boy died because he was
suffocated by guards who roughed him up at a
Bay
County juvenile boot camp,
Hillsborough
County's medical examiner said Friday.
The findings of the second autopsy by Dr. Vernard Adams
on Martin Lee Anderson conflict with the results of the initial one
by Dr. Charles Siebert, the medical examiner for
Bay
County. He ruled the boy died from complications of sickle cell
trait, a usually benign blood disorder many blacks have.
"Martin Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due
to actions of the guards at the boot camp,"
Adams wrote in a statement. He said the suffocation was caused hands
blocking the boy's mouth, as well as the "forced inhalation of
ammonia fumes" that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his
upper airway.
The new findings were announced as part of an
investigation by Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. Gov.
Jeb Bush appointed him in February to investigate the death after
Siebert's findings were disputed by the 14-year-old boy's family and
others. Ober asked
Adams to do a second autopsy.
No one has been arrested and Ober says no timeline has
been established for completing the investigation.
Anderson
was kneed, struck and dragged by guards on his first day at the Bay
County Sheriff's boot camp for juvenile offenders. He was eventually
was taken to a Pensacola hospital where he died the next day, Jan.
6. The ordeal with guards was captured by a camp security camera and
later broadcast nationally.
Anderson
had collapsed while doing push-ups, sit-ups, running laps and other
exercises that were part of his admission to the camp. Siebert found
that the exertion from that exercise triggered the sickle cell trait
and ultimately caused small blood clots to develop in the
bloodstream, which resulted in internal bleeding.
His body was exhumed in
Panama City and brought to Tampa in March for the second autopsy. It
was observed by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who said
afterward that he believed Anderson didn't die from sickle cell
trait or any other natural causes. Baden was hired by the boy's
family.
The death also sparked protests at the state Capitol,
forced lawmakers to scrap the military-style camps and led to the
resignation of the state's top law enforcement officer, who started
the boot camp in
Panama City when he was Bay County sheriff. Bush said Florida
Department of Law Enforcement chief Guy Tunnell shouldn't have sent
e-mails to the current sheriff questioning those who criticized the
boot camp concept.
Anderson
has entered the camp for a probation violation for trespassing at a
school after he and his cousins were originally charged with
stealing their grandmother's car from a church parking lot.
|
