By Nithya Kanthan
Nearly a month prior to George Floyd being asphyxiated at the hands of police, a Black teenager in Michigan named Cornelius Fredericks cried out for help, “I can’t breathe!”. Two adults who were supposed to be responsible for taking care of him mercilessly pinned him to the floor laying across Cornelius Fredericks's torso during restraint, leading to his death.
Fredericks, a sixteen-year-old “ward of the state,” resided at a juvenile residential facility in Kalamazoo known as Lakeside Academy - intended for young adults ages 12 to 18 placed through the foster care system or by their parents to receive behavioral health services. On April 29, Fredericks allegedly threw part of a sandwich at another resident and Lakeside staff used an "improper restraint" on him, which resulted in him going into cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit. Geoffrey Fieger, an attorney for the family, told CNN that what occurred is "horrific" and this is a case of suffocating a child. He claimed, "He committed no crime whatsoever. This cannot be acceptable in a civilized society.”
He was restrained for ostensibly throwing a sandwich at a staff member. After about ten minutes, he lost consciousness immediately and went into cardiac arrest. Twelve minutes later, someone dialed 911 as Fredericks was in dire need of assistance. Fredericks was dispatched to the hospital and put on life support, where he died about thirty hours after arrival, on May 1, two days after being restrained by staff members, according to a $100 million lawsuit filed Monday by the family.
According to CNN, “Michael Mosley, 47, and Zachary Solis, 28, and Heather McLogan (a nurse), 48, are charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony punishable by a maximum of up to fifteen years in prison. Mosley and Solis also face two counts of second-degree child abuse, each count punishable by up to ten years in prison. McLogan faces one such charge. Mosley and Solis restrained Fredericks. McLogan, while not physically involved in the restraint, is accused of failing to procure timely medical care for Fredericks.”
In compliance with a lawsuit filed, Fredericks' passing was only one occasion in a long-standing example of carelessness and maltreatment at Lakeside Academy. In the six months before Fredericks' passing, Lakeside had six separate episodes of representatives abusing de-escalation methods, including inappropriately suppressing children. After Fredericks' passing, Lakeside's board chair claimed that a few children fled the grounds; the lawsuit and bystanders assert they were tear-gassed accordingly.
Geoffrey Fieger, a lawyer suing Lakeside Academy on behalf of Fredericks’ estate declared, “It was a torture chamber.” Throughout the time since he had filed the suit, he alleged a number of earlier and current residents contacted him only to report similar stories. “These kids were being brutalized. They sat on [Fredericks] just like they did George Floyd—they suffocated him.” Unfortunately, this has not been the first time Fredericks has been targeted.
In an occurrence toward the start of the year, recounted in a sixty-three-page report by Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services, Fredericks was hung on the ground by five Lakeside staff for over 30 minutes, disregarding a strict facility policy that restraints last for no more than 10 minutes.. At the point when the restriction at long last finished, the video film indicated that Fredericks seemed “unsteady when he stands, and staff escort him by both arms out of camera view.”
As indicated by media examinations, watchdog reports and lawsuits, Sequel programs have jeopardized children for years.
Alyson Clements, director of membership and advocacy at the National Juvenile Justice Network states, “We’ve heard in at least eight different states, a history of physical abuse, sexual abuse, abuse of restraints. Sequel is going into states, buying facilities and running programs that are supposed to be treatment facilities to help young people. But rather than actually helping young people get over these issues, they’re causing grievous harm.”
According to research, young people of color, like Fredericks, are more likely than their white counterparts to end up in facilities like Sequel’s. Black and Brown children are overrepresented in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system.
With respect to Lakeside Academy, incident reports to Michigan's child welfare licensing agency reveal almost twelve validated cases of disregard and misuse—both physical and verbal—by staff individuals in the course of recent years. Occupants announced being cussed at, slapped, stifled, scratched, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.
In an email, a Sequel representative said that it is quickening an organizational restructuring toward “a holistic culture transformation to trauma-informed care.” The three staff individuals whose actions (or inaction) killed Fredericks have all been criminally accused of automatic homicide and second-degree kid misuse; Sequel says it supports the charges and is collaborating with the investigation.
“The tragic loss of Cornelius at Lakeside Academy has only served to strengthen our resolve to reduce, minimize, and eventually eliminate the use of restraints on our campuses,” the spokesperson wrote.
Hence, in a statement, Sequel Youth & Family Services said it supports the decision to bring criminal charges. It also states it is "making the necessary changes to ensure something like this never happens again."
Sources:
Thompson, Laura. “‘It Was a Torture Chamber’: The Facility That Killed a Black 16-Year-Old Had a Long History of Abuse.” Mother Jones, 1 July 2020, www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/07/cornelius-fredericks-i-cant-breathe-sequel-lakeside-michigan.
Sturla, Taylor Cnn Romine And Anna. “Cornelius Fredericks: Three Charged in Death of Michigan Teen Who Went into Cardiac Arrest.” CNN, 26 June 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/us/teen-restraint-death-staff-charged-michigan-trnd/index.html
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