|
Troy NY Record
O.D. Heck staffers charged in
teen's death
February 17, 2007
By: Shawn Charniga, The Record
COLONIE - An employee of a
state-affiliated facility that cares for severely disabled
persons used improper physical force to restrain a 13-year-old
while he and a co-worker ran errands, and neither man sought
medical care for the youth during the next hour or more, causing
his death, police charged.
Edwin Tirado, 35, and Nadeem Mall, 32, both Schenectady
residents employed by the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in
Niskayuna, were charged with second-degree manslaughter Friday
and held in the Albany County Correctional Facility without bail
after arraignment in Colonie court, police said. A grand jury
may consider the case Wednesday.
Police identified the victim as 13-year-old Jonathan Carey. In
February 2005 his parents, Michael and Lisa Carey, filed a $5.75
million lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court claiming the
severely retarded and autistic child was abused by staff of a
Dutchess County facility he was housed in during 2003 and 2004.
The couple flew back to Albany from their first vacation in a
decade, a Christian cruise of the Caribbean, at 9:30 p.m.
Friday, their lawyer said.
According to the state Capital District Developmental
Disabilities Services Office, the 500 Balltown Road facility
provides services to mentally retarded and developmentally
disabled persons and their families who are residents of Albany,
Fulton, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, Schenectady, Warren and
Washington counties.
Police said that at the time of the teen's death he was under
the care of Tirado and Mall, who were transporting him in a van
on Central Avenue. While Tirado attempted to restrain the youth,
the boy stopped breathing. It is alleged that neither man sought
medical attention for him afterward.
Colonie Police Chief Steven H. Heider said Tirado and Mall took
Jonathan and a second teen, an unidentified 14-year-old male
described as "high-functioning," to Crossgates Mall at about
6:30 p.m. Thursday. Along the way, they stopped at a Hannaford
supermarket so Mall could withdraw money from an ATM, Heider
said.
"When he came out Mr. Tirado was in the back of the van with
(Jonathan) and he was attempting to restrain him," the chief
said. Disabled-care workers are taught a set of restraining
maneuvers that are seen as proper and not likely to injure care
recipients, he explained.
Tirado "was attempting to use these methods to restrain this
young man in his seat. What is alleged is he used improper
methods and caused this young man to stop breathing," Heider
said. Then, deciding to skip the trip to Crossgates, the two men
went to a Hess Mart on Central Avenue to buy drinks and Mohawk
Commons to buy a video game, which was dropped off at one of the
men's homes, before returning to O.D. Heck, Heider said.
They returned to the facility at 8:50 p.m. and claimed the
medical incident had just taken place, the chief said, but the
story fell apart after questioning by O.D. Heck staff who "just
realized something wasn't right."
The 14-year-old willingly spoke about what he saw and will be a
capable witness, Heider said.
"They rendered no aid, no medical assistance. They didn't call
911. They didn't do anything to help this young person for over
an hour," the chief said. So ended a young life troubled not
only by developmental disability, but also by allegations of
abuse by other caregivers.
Daniel Persing, an attorney representing the Careys in a lawsuit
against Staatsburg-based The Anderson Home, said Jonathan was
placed in the facility in January 2003 at a cost of $100,000 per
year, which was paid by the Bethlehem Central School District
where the family lived.
In June of that year, an incident occurred - scratches to his
face apparently inflicted by another disabled child were not
properly reported. But this proved minor compared to what he
claims happened the following year. Jonathan's behavior program
and restricted diet were changed without his parents' knowledge,
Persing said.
"If he did not get dressed, if he flopped, he did not get to
eat," the attorney said. Also, a log book the parents were not
regularly allowed to see somehow appeared in a laundry bag when
the Careys picked up Jonathan for a dental appointment, Persing
said. The lawyer says the book contained a log of injuries the
parents were not aware of.
This led Michael Cary to make an unannounced, early-morning
visit to The Anderson Home, Persing said.
"He found his son naked, covered with bruises, in his own urine,
with a vacant stare," Persing said. "He had no sheet, he was
just on the bed. It was very reminiscent of the early 19th
century treatment of the insane."
Shortly after this surprise visit, the school told the parents
they would institute a new policy for the child that would bar
contact with his parents for a period of four weeks, Persing
said. Jonathan was pulled out of the school in October, 2004, he
said.
Michael Murphy, an Albany attorney representing The Anderson
Home, said he had no comment other than to express his
condolences.
Deborah Sturm Rausch, a spokeswoman for the state Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, said office
staffers are "deeply saddened over this terrible tragedy,"
immediately informed law enforcement as soon as they realized
something was amiss, and will continue to work with the
authorities. Protocols will be reviewed, she said.
Persing said the Careys became advocates for increased parental
knowledge of their children's medical issues since discovering
the alleged abuse. An investigation into the alleged incident by
the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
and Commission on Quality Care was sealed even to the Careys,
the lawyer said.
"Parents are basically kept in the dark about their children and
about their children's welfare, what has happened to them" while
they are in the care of another party, Persing said.
"All that is kept secret. We've got memos that have been
redacted. The Careys could never be sure they could send their
son back to any residence and feel sure their son was going to
be in a safe environment," the lawyer said.
http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17863817&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6
|
|
