Accused
of faking illness, a Florida youth died of a brain injury in a state lockup as
supervisors refused to call for help
For
two hours, juvenile detainee Eric Perez cried, screamed, banged on his cell
wall, and insisted he heard voices.
But
prison guard Terence Davis was convinced that the youth was “faking it.”
Davis,
a state report released Friday said, told a colleague it was not worth the
paperwork to send Perez to a hospital.
In
a scene hauntingly similar to the death of a teen at the Miami lockup nearly a
decade earlier, guards, supervisors and the superintendent of the West Palm
Beach juvenile detention center all did nothing for hours while Perez slowly
died from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Perez’s
July 10, 2011, death sent shockwaves through Florida’s chronically troubled
juvenile justice system: Though administrators had pledged years earlier to
“treat every child as if he was your own,” detention staff had, once again,
neglected a youth to death.
The
last day of Perez — who turned 18 while detained at the center, and was
scheduled to be released imminently — is detailed in a 48-page report, dated
Oct. 16, by the Department of Juvenile Justice’s Inspector General. It was
released Friday morning. The teen’s death sparked the firing of nine employees
of the detention center, including the superintendent.
“We
have cleaned house,” said DJJ spokesman C.J. Drake, “and we are continuing to
clean house.”
DJJ
Secretary Wansley Walters released a statement Friday morning: “On behalf of
the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and all whom we serve, I first
wish to say how much I continue to regret the death of Eric Perez in our
agency’s care on July 10, 2011. I think about Eric every day. I still see his
face every day. His death continues to be a very painful memory for this
agency. While I hope that Eric’s family has found closure, we will continue to
improve what we do every day with him in mind.”
She
added: “I want to emphasize that DJJ will not tolerate conduct that puts kids,
employees or the public at risk. We are committed to operating a safe and
secure juvenile justice system and will take firm and decisive action against
those who do not share that commitment.”
The
report outlined a series of failures involving lockup staff, including nurse
Marcia Clough’s decision not to examine the youth when she arrived for duty the
morning Perez died; the actions of two guards who engaged in “improper searches
and horseplay” with several detainees; and two guards’ failure to follow lockup
procedures for medical emergencies.
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