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Prosecutor: Blood Disorder Didn't Kill Boy

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By MITCH STACY

TAMPA, Fla. - Prosecutors confirmed Tuesday that a 14-year-old boy who was beaten by guards in a juvenile boot camp did not die of a blood disorder as a medical examiner initially ruled.

Pam Bondi, a spokeswoman for Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, who is investigating the death of Martin Lee Anderson, declined to comment further on the case except to say it will be "months" before the probe is complete.

She confirmed statements from Dr. Michael Baden, a noted pathologist hired by Anderson's family who observed the second autopsy that was conducted on the teenager's body.

Baden said after observing the 12-hour autopsy Monday that the teen probably died from a beating by guards, not sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder, as the medical examiner in the county where the camp was located initially ruled.

"My opinion is that he died because of what you see in the videotape," said Dr. Michael Baden, referring to a surveillance tape showing guards kicking and punching Martin Lee Anderson's limp body the day before he died.

After the videotape came to light, Ober was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to investigate. The boy's parents agreed to have his body exhumed and asked Baden, who had reviewed medical evidence in the slaying of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to observe the new autopsy.

"I'm just glad the truth is out," Anderson's mother, Gina Jones, said Tuesday. "But I already knew what the truth was. Now that the truth is out, and I want justice. I want the guards and the nurse to be arrested."

Dr. Charles Siebert, who made that initial ruling after Anderson's death Jan. 6, was present at the second autopsy and may end up changing his ruling, Baden said Tuesday.

"I think he made a mistake," Baden said.

Siebert's office said Tuesday that he will not comment until the investigation in Tampa is complete. A spokeswoman for the Bay County Sheriff's Office, which operated the boot camp, also declined to comment.

No guards had been arrested or fired by Tuesday, but the camp, operated by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, has been closed.

In addition to Ober's investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee and the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division have opened an investigation into Anderson's death.

Civil rights leaders who rallied to support Anderson's parents said they hoped the case would lead to reforms.

"He was a microcosm of many young Andersons sitting in boot camps and detention centers across the state of Florida," said Sevell C. Brown, state president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Anderson entered the camp for a probation violation for trespassing at a school after he and his cousins were charged with stealing their grandmother's car from a church parking lot. He was in his first day at the boot camp when he collapsed during exercises and then was seen on the tape being struck and kicked by several guards.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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