DETROIT _ Charges have been filed against three staff members of a youth services facility in Kalamazoo where a 16-year-old died after being restrained, the county prosecutor said Wednesday.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting announced charges have been authorized against Michael Mosley, Zachary Solis and Heather McLogan. The charges come almost eight weeks after the death of Cornelius Frederick, 16, at Lakeside Academy after he was restrained, authorities said, on April 29 by staff allegedly for throwing a sandwich.
Mosley and Solis face the same charges: homicide and involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony; second-degree child abuse, a 10-year felony; and child abuse, second-degree child care organization violation, a 10-year felony.
McLogan faces two offenses: involuntary manslaughter for alleged gross negligence for failure to perform or timely seek medical care for Cornelius Frederick, a 15-year felony; and child abuse, second-degree child care organization, a 10-year felony.
Frederick died May 1 after suffering a heart attack on April 29.
The state said last week that it had terminated its contracts with Lakeside Academy for youth in foster care or the juvenile justice system. All 125 youth at Lakeside were placed elsewhere, the state said.
The teen's family is suing the school and the company that owns it for $100 million, alleging negligence. The lawsuit alleges that staff sat on his chest for nearly 10 minutes as he screamed that he couldn't breathe.
"Cornelius's scream of 'I can't breathe' was not enough to get the staff members to stop the excessive restraint," said one of the lawyers for the estate, Jon Marko, of Detroit, in the complaint.
The suit names Lakeside Academy and Sequel Youth Services of Michigan, which has a management agreement with the company Lakeside for Children to operate the facility.
Sequel said Monday it was saddened by Frederick's death and it had fired the staff involved: "Additionally, we have removed the former executive director of Lakeside from the organization. We have been in regular contact with law enforcement and state officials to help ensure justice is served and have accelerated the work that was already underway across our organization to move to a restraint-free model of care."
