|
Teen was suffocated in boot camp
death, new autopsy reveals
By Jason Garcia
Tallahassee
Bureau
Posted May 6
2006
|
TALLAHASSEE · The
14-year-old boy who died a
day after a struggle at a
Panama City boot camp
suffocated after the guards
forced him to inhale
ammonia, a new autopsy
released on Friday showed.
The findings contradict an
initial autopsy by Bay
County Medical Examiner Dr.
Charles Siebert, who ruled
that Martin Lee Anderson
died of complications from a
sickle cell trait, a
typically benign blood
disorder common to blacks.
"Martin Anderson's death was
caused by suffocation due to
actions of the guards at the
boot camp," Dr. Vernard
Adams, the Hillsborough
County medical examiner who
was asked to perform a
second autopsy by the
special prosecutor
investigating Martin's
death, said in a prepared
statement.
It was a bittersweet moment
for Martin's grieving
parents, Gina Jones and
Robert Anderson, who have
been fighting for four
months to prove that their
son did not die of natural
causes, as the initial
autopsy concluded.
"The truth is out. We all
knew how Martin passed
away," Jones said. "It's a
beginning."
Martin died Jan. 6, a day
after guards were videotaped
kicking, kneeing and
dragging him around.
Adams said Martin's
suffocation was caused by
hands blocking his mouth
coupled with "forced
inhalation of ammonia fumes"
that made his vocal chords
spasm and block his upper
airway. The guards used
ammonia capsules to keep
Anderson conscious,
according to an incident
report.
The boot camp for young
offenders, run by the Bay
County Sheriff's Office
under a state contract, has
since closed. But no one has
been charged with a crime.
Jones said Gov. Jeb Bush,
who along with other state
officials has been
criticized for being slow to
investigate Martin's death,
called her Friday.
"He apologized and told me
how sorry he was [about]
what happened to my baby,"
she said.
In a statement, Gov. Bush
said that he was disturbed
by the results of the second
autopsy and called the
guards' actions
"deplorable."
Bush later told reporters
that he was not surprised by
the new findings.
"Clearly asphyxiation is a
more logical conclusion," he
said, adding that he told
Martin's parents "that this
is the first step in making
sure that justice is
served."
Siebert told The Associated
Press on Friday that he
stood by his findings. If
Anderson had suffocated,
there would have been higher
levels of carbon dioxide in
the boy's body than were
found in the autopsy, he
said.
"I came to my conclusion by
valid means," Siebert said.
"I've seen no explanation as
to how he came to his
conclusion."
Waylon Graham, the attorney
for sheriff's Lt. Charles
Helms, who was second in
command of the boot camp and
in the exercise yard the day
Martin was beaten, told AP
that he wasn't surprised by
the new report. He said the
investigation has become a
"witch hunt."
"I think [Helms] knows
what's coming next," Graham
said. "When you get an
autopsy with results like
that it's pretty clear that
they are going to charge him
and obviously the others. It
would take a pretty naive
person to think otherwise."
Martin's death has sparked
outrage across the country,
particularly in the black
community, and accusations
that those involved have
tried to cover up a crime.
Two weeks ago, more than
2,000 protesters led by
civil-rights leaders Jesse
Jackson and Al Sharpton
descended on the state
Capitol in Tallahassee. The
rally followed an overnight
sit-in by about 30 college
students in Bush's office.
That sit-in came the same
day Bush accepted the
resignation of Florida
Department of Law
Enforcement Commissioner Guy
Tunnell, who stepped down
after he referred to Jackson
as the outlaw "Jesse James"
and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama,
D-Ill., as "Osama bin
Laden," during a top-level
meeting. Both Jackson and
Obama are black.
Tunnell was already facing
intense criticism for
sending friendly e-mails to
the Bay County sheriff even
as his agency was helping
investigate Martin's death.
That prompted Hillsborough
State Attorney Mark Ober,
who Bush appointed as a
special prosecutor in the
case, to remove FDLE from
the probe.
Friday's news sparked a
fresh wave of calls for
Siebert to be suspended.
"He should be removed," said
state Rep. Gus Barreiro, the
Miami Beach Republican who
has led the effort to
abolish boot camps in the
aftermath of Martin's death.
"Anybody who saw that tape
really believed that Martin
Lee Anderson died at the
hands of these guards."
Bush said investigators
should complete their work
first.
"I think you want to build a
case," he said. "It's one
thing to arrest someone, but
it's another thing to have a
case."
The results of the second
autopsy were released the
same day that Florida
legislators unanimously
approved a plan that would
eliminate the four remaining
boot camps in Florida. They
would likely re-open under a
new program called Sheriff's
Training and Respect, which
would prohibit psychological
intimidation and physical
force from being used
against young offenders.
The measure was called the
Martin Lee Anderson Act.
John Kennedy and Mark
Hollis of the Tallahassee
Bureau and wire services
contributed to this report. |
|
|
|
|
