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ABC News
New Autopsy Finds Fla. Teen Was Suffocated
Second Autopsy of Florida Teen Beaten at
Boot Camp Finds He Died of Suffocation by Guards
By MITCH STACY
 TAMPA,
Fla. May 6, 2006 (AP)— A 14-year-old boy kicked and punched by
guards at a juvenile boot camp died because the sheriff's officials
suffocated him, a medical examiner said Friday, contradicting a
colleague who blamed the death on a usually benign blood disorder.
"Martin Anderson's death was caused by
suffocation due to actions of the guards at the boot camp," said Dr.
Vernard Adams, who conducted the second autopsy.
Adams said the suffocation was caused by hands
blocking the boy's mouth, as well as the "forced inhalation of
ammonia fumes" that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his
upper airway. The guards had said in an incident report that they
used ammonia capsules to keep Anderson conscious.
The autopsy report draws no conclusions about
whether Anderson's death was a homicide or an accident.
Anderson had been sent to the boot camp for
violating probation by trespassing at a school after he and his
cousins were charged with stealing their grandmother's car from a
church parking lot.
He collapsed while doing push-ups, sit-ups,
running laps and other exercises that were part of his admission
process at the camp. The sheriff's office said force was used on
Anderson because he was uncooperative.
Anderson's body was exhumed after a camp
surveillance videotape surfaced showing the guards roughing him up
Jan. 5, a day before he died. His family had questioned the initial
finding by Dr. Charles Siebert, the Bay County Medical Examiner,
that the boy died of complications of sickle cell trait.
Anderson's parents, Gina Jones and Robert
Anderson, said the new autopsy findings vindicated their campaign
for a thorough investigation of the boy's death.
"All you do bad, the good will come out. And so
the truth is out now," Jones said.
No one has been arrested in connection with the
death, which sparked protests at the state Capitol, forced lawmakers
to scrap the military-style camps and led to the resignation of the
state's top law enforcement officer.
"I am disturbed by Dr. Adams' findings and
consider the actions of the Bay County boot camp guards deplorable,"
said Gov. Jeb Bush, who ordered the investigation that led to the
second autopsy.
He later said he didn't think he could suspend
Siebert because he wasn't sure if the entire autopsy report was
finished. But Attorney General Charlie Crist said that Siebert
"should probably be suspended pending further review" and that there
"probably will be arrests."
Siebert said Friday that he stands by his
findings. If Anderson had suffocated, he said, there would have been
higher levels of carbon dioxide in the boy's body.
"I came to my conclusion by valid means,"
Siebert said. "I've seen no explanation as to how (Adams) came to
his conclusion."
Marc Tochterman, a spokesman for the Bay County
Sheriff's Office, which operated the boot camp, said the agency had
no immediate comment.
Waylon Graham, attorney for sheriff's Lt.
Charles Helms, who was second in command of the boot camp and
present in the exercise yard that day, said the investigation has
turned into a "witch hunt." He said Helms doesn't believe that the
guards caused Anderson's death.
Associated Press writers Melissa Nelson in
Pensacola and Andrea Fanta in Tallahassee contributed to this
report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,
or redistributed.
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