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June trial scheduled in White Co.
camp death April 27, 2007
The Associated Press
April 27 at 12:12 PM
by The Associated Press
 CLEVELAND
- Six employees charged with murder and child cruelty in the death
of a camper at the Applachian Wilderness Camp in northeast Georgia
face trial June 4.
The employees maintained in
pre-trial motions in White County Superior Court this week that they
had acted as they had been trained when dealing with 13-year-old
Travis Parker at the camp for troubled boys near Cleveland.
Five of the employees are accused
of taking turns restraining the 5-foot-7, 159-pound boy by holding
him down for an hour and a half until he lost consciousness and
later died while another employee -- Paul Binford -- authorized
their actions.
Through their attorneys, the six
maintained that the restraint was applied correctly. The restraint
consisted of holding the boy down with workers securing his arms,
hips and legs.
The employees have pleaded not
guilty to the charges. In addition to Binford, the others are: Ryan
Chapman, Mathew Desing, Phillip Elliott, Johnny Harris and Torbin
Vining.
The boy stopped breathing when he
was being restrained April 20, 2005. The next day he died at
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
District Attorney Stan Gunter has
offered all six workers plea bargains, but none has yet expressed
interest.
The boy's grandmother -- Golden
Griffin of Douglas County -- had raised Travis since he was a
toddler. She says she wants the workers to serve prison time.
Camp director Tim McMahon testified
in a hearing Wednesday that his review of the case found the workers
properly restrained the boy and did NOT use excessive force.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation
found the boy died of irreversible brain damage caused by a lack of
oxygen because of inadequate blood flow to his brain.
©Copyright 2007 AccessNorthGa.com /
WDUN News/Talk 550. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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permission.
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