How Could You? Hall of Shame-Cornelius Fredricks case-Child Death UPDATED and Lawsuit
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Kalamazoo, Michigan, a “16-year-old student at Lakeside Academy has died after he was restrained by staff for throwing a sandwich, police said.
The boy died at Bronson Methodist Hospital on Friday morning after being transported there Thursday, according to Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
Capt. Craig Habel confirmed that the boy was restrained by staff after throwing a sandwich on Thursday afternoon.
Police were dispatched to the academy on Oakland Drive at 1:11 p.m. Thursday on a report of a student who was unresponsive. Upon arrival officers found the teenager in cardiac arrest, Habel said.
Life-saving measures were administered by Kalamazoo Public Safety personnel as well as Life Ambulance paramedics and a pulse was regained on the student. He was taken to Bronson and cared for overnight.
The death investigation is ongoing and the autopsy is scheduled for Friday, Habel said.
The facility was established as a boys orphanage in 1907. It now houses and educates up to 126 vulnerable boys between the ages of 12 and 18 who live on the 48-acre campus off Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo.
Lakeside Academy issued the following statement Friday:
“We are deeply saddened to learn about the passing of a student at Lakeside Academy after being restrained by staff during an incident on campus. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of this young man and are focused on supporting them and our school community. While 16-year-old Lakeside Academy student dead after being restrained by staff we are not providing additional details at this time out of respect for the privacy of the family and the ongoing law enforcement investigation, we are cooperating fully with the Kalamazoo Police Department and will use every tool at our disposal to investigate this incident, support those affected, and take appropriate disciplinary action. The health and well-being of our students is our top priority and all personnel at our facilities are trained to provide the highest quality of care. This incident does not reflect our mission to serve and care for our clients with excellence and we are committed to making the necessary changes to ensure something like this does not happen again.”
16-year-old Lakeside Academy student dead after being restrained by staff
[M Live 5/1/2020 by Lindsay Moore]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:“Before he died at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, 30 hours after being physically restrained by staff at his foster care group home, Cornelius Frederick was described by family members as “a boy’s boy”: Hyper and rambunctious, with a penchant for playing jokes and pranks. He was sweet, too.
On April 30, Frederick was put into a hold after throwing a sandwich at Sequel Youth & Family Services’ Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo, a residential facility that serves at-risk teen boys who need intensive behavioral and mental health therapy. According to the family’s attorney, Frederick started yelling “I can’t breathe!” before passing out.
After being transported to the hospital, Frederick tested positive for the coronavirus. The other youth at Lakeside were then tested, revealing that nearly 40, plus nine staff members, had the virus.
Frederick’s death – and the realities of trying to social distance in a facility packed with teenagers – highlights one of the many problems facing America’s foster care system amid the pandemic.
Multiple other group homes in the U.S., including in Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Missouri have also reported outbreaks.
Meanwhile, across the country, foster parents are in short supply, at-risk kids aren’t able to get in-person services they need and courts are closed, leaving adoptions and family reunifications in limbo. Only a handful of states have issued moratoriums on aging out of the system, which means 18 and 21-year-olds could suddenly find themselves without a home or job in the worst economy in decades, with 36.5 million Americans filing unemployment claims since March.
Additionally, reports of child abuse have plummeted, which experts suspect is not because abuse has actually declined but because so many at-risk children are not in regular, in-person contact with mandatory reporters such as teachers, school nurses and social workers. They worry there could be an explosion in reports as states re-open and children return to school.
“We are really worried that an already-strained system is going to buckle under the weight of the coronavirus,” says Sandy Santana, executive director of Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy organization that works to protect kids in child welfare and juvenile justice systems. “This may drive even more children into the system.”
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There are more than 430,000 children living in foster care in the U.S., and about 10 percent of that population – typically older adolescents – lives in group residential facilities, according to Children’s Rights.
In Michigan, Frederick had been a ward of the state since 2014, after his mother passed away and his father’s parental rights were revoked, according to Jon Marko, the Detroit-based civil rights attorney representing Frederick’s family.”
[USA Today 5/15/2020 by Erica Schnell]
Update 2:“The state of Michigan has suspended and is working to revoke the license of a Kalamazoo youth home following the death of a teen who was restrained by staff members.
Sixteen-year-old Cornelius Fredericks[sic] died May 1, two days after he was restrained and then suffered cardiac arrest at Lakeside Academy.
Investigators found Fredrick was “wrongfully restrained,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a Thursday release. It was among 10 violations the state found when it investigated the teen’s death.
Lakeside already had a history of violations, including failing to properly supervise the youths, using “inappropriate behavior management techniques” with a child and a previous incident of improperly restraint.
Located on Oakland Drive north of West Kilgore Road, the facility houses and educates young people with behavioral challenges, including youth in foster care and juvenile justice programs.
The license suspension means the facility can’t house any kids. The state had already removed all 125 youths from the home a few days after Fredrick’s death and ended its contract with the facility.
The state is taking steps to shut the place down permanently by revoking its license. Lakeside will be able to request a hearing during that process and it’s unclear how long it may take.
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said his office is still working through a few different reports on the death. He expects to be able to make a decision on whether charges are appropriate next week.
MDHHS added that it is now issuing new rules to all child care facilities that ban the use of physical restraints. It said it will help teach alternatives before the new policy goes into effect.
It’s also asking independent child welfare organizations to look at state oversight of licensing and contracting. Those groups should come up with improvement recommendations by the end of the month.”
State pulling license of youth home after boy’s death
[Wood TV 6/18/2020]
Update 3:” A report revealed new details in the May 1, 2020, death of a 16-year-old Lakeside Academy student after Lakeside Academy staff members restrained him for throwing a sandwich in the cafeteria.
The findings of a six-week investigation revealed a Lakeside Academy staff member sat on the chest of Cornelius Fredericks [sic] for nearly 10 minutes as he lost consciousness during a restraint. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Family Services Director JooYeun Chang said the restraint that ended Cornelius’s life was excessive and what happened after was equally disturbing.
“It was shocking to watch the video of the restraint,” Chang said.
Investigators reviewed all facility incident reports drafted by staff involved and reviewing video recordings of the incident preceding the teen’s death. They said staff members pushed Cornelius Fredericks to the ground after a throwing a sandwich in the Lakeside Academy cafeteria on April 29.
According to an executive summary by the state health department, multiple staff members put teen into a restraint that put the teen flat on the floor.
Chang said multiple staff members attempted to conduct a supine restraint, which involves a person applying various holds using their arms, legs or body weight to immobilize an individual or bring an individual to the floor. The child is laid in the face-up position, according to Chang.
“The idea is to prevent the individual from hurting themselves or someone else by striking someone. There is never at any point a time where you are supposed to lay on top of the chest of the child, which we saw happen here,” Chang said.
When Cornelius began to lose consciousness, Chang said supervisors and nursing staff waited 12 minutes to call 911 or attempt CPR.
“When staff tried to lift him up, it was clear to us in watching the video he was not conscious. He fell back immediately. We know staff said they thought he was joking around, that he thought he was just laying there as an act of not wanting to listen to them,” Chang said.
She said the response of the medical professionals were deeply troubling.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services investigation included interviews of at least 10 staff and 14 residents, found 10 licensing violations, which included a failure to follow rules related to resident restraint and discipline.
Chang said during the investigation, another video surfaced showing a staff member using an improper restraint used on Cornelius and another student on Jan. 3, 2020.
Chang said the use of the restraint was never reported to the agency. Lakeside was also cited for the Jan 3, 2020 restraint.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced its suspended the Lakeside Academy license June 18, 2020, and terminated Lakeside contracts to care for youth in the state’s foster care and juvenile justice systems.
All 125 youth were removed and placed in other homes.
Lakeside was contracted by the state to treat youth who were placed through the abuse, neglect, juvenile justice foster care system or by their parents to receive behavioral health services.
The health department said the would be issuing new rules to ban the use of physical restraints at all 150 state juvenile facilities in Michigan.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety was still investigating the boy’s death on June 19 and the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office said it would make a decision on charges next week.
“There was complaints, problems with sequel and Lakeside for years and nobody seemed to listen, and it took the death of Cornelius for people to start listening,” John Marko, Cornelius Fredericks’s attorney, said.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services documented dozens of complaints of abuse and improper restraints of Lakeside residents over the years.
“There was a culture where this type of activity was accepted,” Chang said.
Chang said it was a rare for a child welfare facility like Lakeside to have its license revoked. She admitted there were signs of trouble at Lakeside before Cornelius’s death and the state should have stepped in sooner.
“There were clues we didn’t pick up in time. There were signs there was trouble at the facility,” Chang said.
Lakeside Academy for Children Board President Jeff Palmer said the facility was exploring an appeal of the state’s decision to revoke the academy’s license.
“While we are disappointed in the state’s decision, we thank them for their investigation,” Palmer said.
A #JusticeForCornelius rally was scheduled for June 20, 2020, at 2:30 p.m. at Lakeside Academy. ”
Report: Lakeside staff member sat on teen’s chest for more than 9 minutes during restraint
[WWMT 6/19/2020 by Michael Krafcik]
” Three youth home nurses are charged in the death of a 16-year-old boy.
Staff at Kalamazoo’s Lakeside Academy restrained Cornelius Fredericks[sic] for 12 minutes, and he died two days later. His death is ruled a homicide.
The state report says the restraint used on Fredericks for throwing a sandwich in the juvenile facility’s cafeteria was unsafe and excessive.
The Kalamazoo County prosecutor’s office is still investigating to determine if other staff members should face charges.
Records show the Lakeside’s director of nursing, Heather McLogan, supervised the last two minutes of the restraint.
“(She’s) just a good human being who basically dedicated her life to helping at-risk children,” said Tase Markou, McLogan’s attorney
He said she followed her legal duty to obtain medical care.
“Typically, in any kind of criminal case, the person who is accused has to have done something, done a bad act,” he said.
Police said Fredericks went limp and was unresponsive when released. Another 12 minutes went by before McLogan made the first 911 call. At that time, another staff member started CPR, the state’s report shows.
According to state health investigators, McLogan told a responding officer she thought Fredericks was faking it because she saw him moving.
The Kalamazoo County medical examiner said Fredericks died of asphyxiation.
McLogan is one of three former Lakeside employees facing involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges.
Attorneys representing Michael Mosley and Zachary Solis says they were following protocols and were victims of circumstance.
“Nobody stopped them from killing someone. No one stopped them from acting reasonably. No one stopped them from suffocating a young boy. That’s ridiculous,” said Geoffrey Fieger, attorney for the family of Fredericks.
Fieger filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against Lakeside and Sequel Youth and Family Services. “And I have no doubt this facility looked the other way at many acts of brutality,” he said.”
Nurse facing charges in teen’s restraint death said she thought he was faking
[KJCT18 6/29/2020]
Update 4:“A Kalamazoo County District Court Judge ordered Zachary Solis, one of three people charged in death of Lakeside Academy student, to trial Thursday.
The judge determined at a preliminary hearing Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, that there’s enough evidence against Solis to move the case to circuit court.
A judge also ordered Heather McLogan’, head nurse at the academy who was also charged in Fredericks’ death, to circuit court for trial.
Solis and McLogan are charged with involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree child abuse in the death of 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks.
Fredericks was a resident at Lakeside Youth Facility.
Staff restrained the teen for throwing a sandwich in the cafeteria.
The Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide. ”
Zachary Solis, Heather McLogan head to trial in Lakeside Academy student’s death
[WWMT 9/17/2020 by Thomas May]
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