Posted on Mon,
Aug. 21, 2006
Juvenile justice
deaths
Eight youths have
died in the custody of the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice since 2000:
• Michael Wiltsie,
12, died Feb. 5, 2000, at a DJJ youth camp, Camp E-Kel-Etu
in Marion County. Investigations concluded Michael,
who weighed only 66 pounds, died of asphyxia after
being held in a ''full-body restraint'' by a
counselor who weighed over 300 pounds. While being
held by the counselor, Michael yelled several times
that he could not breathe. A death review said the
counselor believed Michael was ``playing possum.''
• Anthony Dumas,
15, died Oct. 14, 2000. On June 12, 2000, he hanged
himself with a leather belt from his bunk bed at the
Lippman runaway shelter in Oakland Park. Police
reports say three staff members on duty that night
all failed to cut him down from the bed, and one
snapped pictures of the teen with an instant camera.
Anthony was not released from his noose until police
arrived. He died after being in a coma for four
months.
• Shawn D. Smith,
13, died Oct. 30, 2001, at the Volusia Regional
Juvenile Detention Center. Smith was found with a
sheet tied to his neck and to the door of his cell.
He was supposed to be on ''close watch'' --
requiring officers to observe him ever five minutes
-- as a suicide risk.
• Daniel 'Danny'
Matthews, 17, died March 31, 2003, at the
Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in St.
Petersburg. Danny died of blunt trauma to the head
after a detention officer, a noncertified trainee,
mistakenly opened the cell door of another youth,
who punched Danny twice, causing him to hit his
head.
• Omar Paisley,
17, died June 9, 2003, at the Miami Juvenile
Detention Center of a ruptured appendix that went
untreated. Omar had complained to nurses and guards
for three days that he was sick and in excruciating
abdominal pain. Two nurses, who have been charged
with third-degree murder, failed to treat him, and
officers waited days before summoning help. Records
show some of the officers and nurses thought Omar
was faking.
• Willie Durden,
17, died Oct. 13, 2005, at the privately managed
Cypress Creek Juvenile Offender Correctional Center
in Lecanto, in Citrus County. An autopsy concluded
Willie died of ventricular arrhythmia, due to an
enlarged and diseased heart. A recent report says
guards waited about 20 minutes after discovering the
limp teen before calling 911 and beginning CPR. A
guard told investigators he waited to begin CPR
because teens sometimes ``play pranks.''
• Martin Lee
Anderson, 14, died Jan. 6, 2006, at a Pensacola
hospital one day after guards at the Bay County
Sheriff's Office Boot Camp punched, kneed, and
applied pressure to his head in an attempt to force
him to continue running laps. An autopsy ordered by
a special prosecutor concluded Martin died of
asphyxia after guards covered his mouth and shoved
ammonia capsules up his nose. A use-of-force report
said the guards had thought Martin was malingering.
• Dillon Tyler Peak,
13, died June 17, 2006, after becoming ill at the
Peace River Outward Bound wilderness camp in DeSoto
County. Officials say Dillon apparently died of a
severe case of encephalitis. The death remains under
investigation.
