Eight charged in teen's boot camp death
Early edition: Seven guards and a nurse at the Panama City juvenile facility face aggravated manslaughter charges in connection with the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson.
By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published November 28, 2006
Eight people face charges of aggravated manslaughter of a person under 18 in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, a Bay County teen who died at a Panama City boot camp, according to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office.
Those charged include seven boot camp guards and the camp's nurse, prosecutors say. The charges came Tuesday after months of investigation by Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober.
Ober said all of the guards have been arrested and booked in Bay County jail. The nurse was working and was asked to turn herself in later today.
"We hope at the end of the day justice will be served," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who appointed Ober to investigate. "We also hope that when the process is completed that Martin Lee Anderson's family will have the answers to the questions that they legitimately have."
Anderson, 14, collapsed and died Jan. 5 after being roughed up by guards at a Panama City boot camp.
At a news conference Tuesday in Tallahassee, Martin Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, said she was pleased with the charges.
"This is a good day for me. I'm finally getting justice for my baby," she said.
Her attorney, Ben Crump, said that Mark Ober acted with "great courage" in bringing the charges.
"We know were a long way from a conviction but this is a huge step today," Crump said.
The initial autopsy found that Anderson died of complications of sickle cell trait, a blood disease; but a second autopsy conducted during Ober's investigation determined that Anderson's death was caused by suffocation.
"Despite its complexity and magnitude, we have conducted a timely, thorough and ethical investigation,'' Ober said. "In doing so, we have rightfully ignored repeated demands calling for a rush to judgment. To have done otherwise would have politicized my investigation and denied Martin Anderson the justice he deserves."
Henry Dickens, Charles Enfinger, Patrick Garrett, Raymond Hauck, Charles Helms Jr., Henry McFadden Jr., Kristin Schmidt and Joseph Walsh II each face one count of aggravated manslaughter, a first degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Bob Pell, an attorney who represents former guard Joseph Walsh II, said he hadn't heard about charge against his client. "I didn't anticipate it. I was hoping cooler heads would prevail, but we will deal with this as it comes down. We understood the political pressure that was brought to bear," he said.
Charles Siebert, the medical examiner who performed the original autopsy, acted under “good faith belief” that he could do so even though Anderson died at a hospital outside Siebert’s district, Ober's report shows.
Nor did Ober find fault with former FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell and Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who traded e-mails discussing the case while it was under investigation by the FDLE. Tunnell had formerly held McKeithen’s job and started the boot camp there in 1994.
“FDLE conducted this investigation in the same manner that it would conduct any other investigation, and Tunnell’s personal relationship with the (sheriff’s office) and Bay County Boot Camp did not affect the work of the FDLE investigations,” Ober wrote in a letter to Gov. Bush.
And Bay County State Attorney Steve Meadows, who acknowledged deleting e-mails related to the case, “did not attempt to hide information pertinent to the investigation,” Ober concluded.
Anderson's family has sued the state Department of Juvenile Justice and the Bay County Sheriff's Office, seeking more than $40 million in damages.
Former state Rep. Gus Barreiro, one of two South Florida lawmakers who saw the video and exposed its existence to the news media, said, “When I first saw it, I knew it wasn’t simply a kid collapsing on a field. No criminal charges or convictions will ever bring this young man back. But people who work with kids in the system have to understand that if you mistreat a child you will be held accountable.”
Includes reporting by the Associated Press.