Charges in Florida boot camp death

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. —  Nearly 11 months after a teenage boy died after a beating at a Panhandle boot camp that was caught on videotape and led to an overhaul of Florida’s juvenile justice system, seven former guards and a nurse were charged Tuesday with manslaughter.

“I’m finally getting justice for my baby,” said Gina Jones, mother of Martin Lee Anderson, who was 14 when he died.

Prosecutors said Martin died hours after guards choked, kicked and beat him when he collapsed Jan. 5 in the exercise yard of the now-defunct Bay County sheriff’s camp in Panama City. He had just been sent to the camp for its regimen of military-style training and discipline after taking a joyride in his grandmother’s car.

The death of the north Florida teen not only rattled the state institutions that are supposed to punish and rehabilitate minors, but led to the state-mandated closing of the Bay County facility and three similar military-style camps for children.

A camp video camera filmed the harsh treatment of Anderson. The resulting tape was aired nationwide and put pressure on Gov. Jeb Bush, especially from African Americans, for a thorough investigation into the black youth’s death. In April, college students waged a two-day protest in Bush’s office and a march on Florida’s Capitol.

An initial autopsy by Bay County authorities found that the youth died of natural complications of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder common among African Americans. That finding was greeted with widespread outrage and disbelief in the black community.

The special prosecutor whom Bush later named in the case, Hillsborough County State Atty. Mark Ober, ordered another autopsy. That examination found Anderson’s death was due to suffocation caused by the guards.

It was Ober who announced Tuesday that a felony charge was being brought against the former boot camp employees. The charges carry a potential 30-year prison term.

Bush expressed elation, saying: “We will follow the results of this investigation closely, and hope that at the end of the day, justice will be served.”

Dan Mears, a Florida State University criminology professor, said the case may end a culture of physical confrontation at boot camps, which purport to use the techniques of “tough love” to alter teens’ bad behavior.

“People running boot camps in other states know it’s time to step back and take stock in what they’re doing,” said Mears, who cited studies showing the institutions hadn’t significantly reduced the number of minors who recommit crimes.

Waylan Graham, an attorney for Bay County Sheriff’s Lt. Charles Helms, a former U.S. Army drill sergeant who was the highest-ranking officer at the Panama City camp, said he thought prosecutors would have an uphill fight to prove manslaughter.

Dr. Vernard Adams, the medical examiner for Hillsborough County who conducted the second autopsy, said guards’ hands had blocked Anderson’s mouth, and that the “forced inhalation of ammonia fumes” caused his vocal cords to spasm. The guards are alleged to have inserted ammonia capsules into the youth’s nostrils while restraining him.