Teen in Foster Care Fatally Restrained for Throwing a Sandwich

3 Mich. youth home staffers charged with manslaughter after Cornelius Fredericks, 16, dies
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2020 7:39 AM CDT

A Michigan teen went into cardiac arrest and died May 1, two days after an incident in a Kalamazoo youth foster care facility in which staff members restrained him. Per NBC News, a video (warning: graphic) showing what happened to 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks on April 29 at Lakeside Academy has been released by his family's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, who says he got the security camera footage from the prosecutor's office. In the video, which doesn't have audio, Cornelius hurls a sandwich at around the 4:30 mark, at which point a nearby staff member takes the teen to the floor. Several workers can be seen converging upon Cornelius and holding him down for several minutes. Shortly after the 12-minute mark, the workers release their restraint and are seen trying to resuscitate the unresponsive teen. Cornelius went into cardiac arrest and died two days later at the hospital.

A medical examiner ruled the teen's death a homicide caused by restraint asphyxia, per WOOD. A state probe found Cornelius was restrained for 12 minutes, though the video only shows eight, with multiple jump cuts. "It appears that the video is missing parts," Fieger's assistant tells CNN. "We do not know at this time ... what happened to them." Ten employees at Lakeside were fired, and two staff members, 28-year-old Zachary Raul Solis and 47-year-old Michael Joshua Mosley, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse. Nurse Heather Newton McLogan, 48, was hit with the same charges for allegedly waiting 12 minutes to call 911 after Cornelius was released. Staffers told investigators Cornelius had threatened to attack them once they let go. The teen's family, which says he was struggling and saying "I can't breathe" while being held down, has filed a civil lawsuit against Lakeside and the facility's owner. All kids have been removed from there. (More Cornelius Fredericks stories.)

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