Delayed closure tortures family
It's been nine months since a
teen beaten by boot camp guards died, but still no charges.
By Abbie Vansickle
Published September 29, 2006
TAMPA - Martin Lee Anderson died
nearly nine months ago, collapsing after guards roughed him up at a
Panama City boot camp.
Since then, the 14-year-old's
family has waited for closure, for an answer about who is
responsible.
Their wait won't be over for at
least six more weeks. That's according to the family's attorney, Ben
Crump of Tallahassee, who says prosecutors gave him the discouraging
news last week.
"The longer it takes, everybody
loses respect in the system. ... It's taking far too long," Crump
said.
Martin's family was so upset by the
delay that members tried to see Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday. They
were turned away; the staff said Bush's schedule was already full.
"We feel it should be finished
before the election," Crump said.
Anthony DeLuise, a Bush spokesman,
said the governor shares the family's concerns.
Martin collapsed at the boot camp,
a facility in Bay County for troubled teens, on Jan. 5. He died the
next day at a Pensacola hospital.
A camp videotape showed nearly a
dozen boot camp guards surrounding the boy, striking his limp body
and pushing ammonia capsules in his nose. The tape outraged
legislators and the governor.
After questions were raised about
autopsy results, the governor assigned the investigation to
Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. A second autopsy
concluded Martin died of suffocation, contradicting a Bay County
medical examiner's finding that he died from complications of sickle
cell trait.
In a prepared statement Wednesday,
Ober said he understood and sympathized with the family.
"My office has made significant
progress during the past several months of our investigation," he
said. "I assure the family and the public that my office is working
diligently as we continue to gather important evidence in this
case."
But Ober didn't give any public
hint as to when he would wrap up the case.
Crump said the months of
uncertainty are taking a toll. Martin's mother is in counseling, he
said. "They're struggling," he said.
State legislators Gus Barreiro and
Frederica Wilson, involved in the case from the start, both also
expressed frustration with the pace of the investigation.
"I am really disturbed by the
length of time it has taken to make arrests," said Wilson, a senator
from Miami.
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