Three Charged in Death of Black 16-Year-Old Who Died After Being Restrained

Three residential facility workers in Michigan have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks died after he was restrained. 

CNN reports that the staff members restrained Fredericks while he stayed at Lakeside Academy, a residential treatment facility for individuals between ages 12 to 18 placed in the foster care system. Fredericks died on May 1, just two days after staff restrained him and caused him to go into cardiac arrest. The charges against the staff members were announced by Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting on Wednesday.

According to Getting, Fredericks was restrained across his torso by the staff, which led to his death. He allegedly threw some of his sandwich at another resident at Lakeside Academy, prompting the staff to use an “improper restraint.” Tenia Goshay is representing Frederick’s estate and asking for $100 million in damages, attorney Jonathan Marko said. 

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation into the facility following Fredericks’ death, and determined the restraint used on him was “significantly disproportionate” to what Fredericks was accused of doing. Per CNN, a fourth individual was charged with negligence when they allegedly neglected to seek the necessary medical care for Fredericks.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has since terminated its contracts with Lakeside Academy, and has started to begin the process of revoking its license. The MDHHS in total found “10 licensing violations, including a failure to follow rules related ro resident restraint and discipline.” The owner of Lakeside, Sequel Youth & Family Services, said that it will be “making the necessary changes to ensure something like this never happens again.”