Prosecutors weigh whether child's death was criminal homicide

Associated Press

RICE LAKE, Wis. - The counseling center involved in the suffocation death of a 7-year-old patient has been told that it cannot use control holds on patients unless the situation is "so dangerous that police must be called," a spokeswoman for state regulators said Friday.

The Department of Health and Family Services gave the order to Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic in Rice Lake as the agency continued its investigation into an incident last month that led to the girl's death, spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said.

The directive, issued June 2, essentially bans the use of control holds in all but extreme emergencies at the counseling center, Marquis said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors were weighing whether to consider the death of Angellika Arndt a criminal homicide.

Arndt died from complications of chest compression, which caused lack of air from a restraint hold she was placed in by staff members, Barron County District Attorney Angela Holmstrom said.

Holmstrom said the manner of death - that it was caused by another person - makes the case a homicide. But she said it's not clear whether the facts meet the criminal definition of homicide.

No charges were filed Friday, a spokeswoman in Holmstrom's office said.

The girl, a resident of Rusk County, died May 26 at Children's Hospital & Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis, a day after police were called to the Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic on a report that she was unresponsive.

Arndt was a patient at the clinic and had been restrained by staff members for behavioral issues, police said.

Donna Wrenn, executive director of the National Association for the Mentally Ill-Wisconsin, said she was stunned at the medical examiner's ruling in Arndt's death.

"No matter what a child's behavior is, I can't imagine holding them down to the point of suffocating them," Wrenn said. "It's a horrible tragedy. It's unbelievable. Someone needs to be held accountable."

Wrenn said that her organization's policy is to use the least restrictive force as possible.

Denison Tucker, president of the clinic's board of directors, has said a review of the incident determined the staff, which is trained and licensed, followed proper procedures for the control hold, which he said is only used if a child is in danger of causing harm to him or herself or another person.

Tucker said the girl was held on her stomach on the floor as one staff member gripped her ankles and another held down her shoulders, she calmed down, was released and then passed out.

A parent or guardian must sign a consent form for the hold to be used, Tucker said.

"We stand behind our staff," Tucker said Friday. "We know them to be competent professionals and outstanding mental health providers."

He urged investigators to look into other medical complications that could have contributed to the girl's death, including her medications. Tucker said his clinic does not prescribe or administer medications.

Holmstrom said she and police investigators met with the Hennepin County, Minn., Medical Examiner on Thursday.

The medical examiner ruled the girl died from complications of chest compression asphyxia and also suffered cardiopulmonary arrest, the medical report said.