PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) - A teenager who was beaten by guards in a state-run boot camp for juvenile delinquents died from internal bleeding caused by a blood disorder, not from injuries he may have suffered in the beating, a medical examiner reported Thursday.
Martin Lee Anderson suffered from sickle cell trait, which caused his red blood cells to change shape and produce “a whole cascade of events that led to bleeding and hemorrhaging,” said Bay County Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Siebert.
“It was a natural death,” he said.
Medical forms filed at the boot camp did not indicate that the youth or his family were aware of the disorder, which affects about one of every eight black people, Siebert said. The sickle cell disorder would not show up in routine blood tests, he said.
Anderson entered the camp Jan. 5 because of an arrest for theft. He complained of breathing difficulties and collapsed during exercises that were part of the entry process. He died the next day at a Pensacola hospital.
The sheriff’s office, which runs the camp, said Anderson became uncooperative and was restrained. The boy’s mother alleges he was murdered by guards who beat him to death.
Siebert said there were some bruises and abrasions on the boy’s body, but he attributed those to attempts to resuscitate the youth.
The Anderson family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, was skeptical of the autopsy results and expressed doubt that the sickle cell trait, if it existed, could cause such extensive damage to the teenager’s internal organs.
Also Thursday, the Justice Department announced it would investigate the case, along with the FBI. Federal officials planned to focus on whether camp guards violated Anderson’s rights through use of excessive force or “indifference to serious medical need,” U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Miller said.
On Friday, law enforcement officials planned to make public a videotape that allegedly shows guards beating Anderson. News organizations filed a lawsuit seeking the video.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
bullshit.
This was in 2004. So, what was the outcome of the FBI and Justice Department investigations?
Add this to consideration here:
When was the last time a medical examiner gave an autopsy report that DIDNT mitigate the actions of cops or authority figures?
Every black person or suspect of ANY race who dies in police custody has some kind of ‘ailment’ or is ‘high’ and therefore it’s just automatic to assume the beatings, chemicals and chokings had nothing to do with death but these ‘contributing’ factors.
If I do something to a diabetic, my ignorance of their condition which leads to their death is not an excuse. Maybe the answer is that you can’t assume people will all react to things the same way, thus you ARE guilty of some type of crime?
But I guess that only applies to the peasants.