Six former staff members at a Maryland school for juvenile offenders waited 41 minutes before calling 911 about an unresponsive 17-year-old boy who died, says an indictment reported by the Associated Press. “They thought he was faking,” State’s Attorney Jerry Barnes said yesterday in Westminster, Md. Isaiah Simmons died Jan. 23 while being restrained at Bowling Brook Preparatory School.
Medical examiners ruled Simmons’ death a homicide. The school has closed. The incident prompted the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services to reform its crisis intervention policies. The grand jury charged the workers with reckless endangerment, not the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter. An administrator with the school said it hopes to reopen and supports its former employees.
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800622.html