Recovery for Estate of 17-Year-Old Killed in Youth Facility
By injuheis on April 12, 2010
Seventeen year old Manny Leach was choked to death in June of 2007 by an employee of the Chad Youth Enhancement Services Inc., a Youth Correctional facility in Philadelphia. According to a philly.com story, the facility paid the teen’s family $10.5 million to settle the matter in a federal lawsuit.
The death was the second incident of juvenile detention center abuse at the facility resulting in a teen’s death. Had the City of Philadelphia shut down the facility after the first death, as was done by the State of Maryland after Isaiah Simmon died at Bowling Brook, this death may have never occurred. Another senseless death, in my opinion, due to the negligence of the City of Philadelphia.
Manny’s case was previously thought to have been a homicide; however, further evidence supported by a photograph from a surveillance camera demonstrated otherwise. Based on the story, after Manny had been put in a restraint hold, a Chad mental-health technician had both hands gripped around the boy’s neck and had him pinned to the floor.
Restraint is often used in some mental health facilities in Maryland and throughout the United States as a way to help prevent the patient or others from carrying out aggressive or violent behavior. However, serious injury and even death may occur if restraint is used improperly or if a facility employee abuses their position of power or is not able to maintain their own anger or frustration with a patient. Restraint injury and death in Maryland may occur within the criminal justice system, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes, and other facilities as well.
If your child has been the victim of restraint injury or death, you may be able to hold negligent or abusive parties legally responsible. Contact Steven H. Heisler, “The Injury Lawyer,” for a free evaluation of your case. As an experienced Maryland juvenile restraint injury attorney, Steven H. Heisler will protect the best interests of your family as you learn to cope during this difficult time. Mr. Heisler and co-counsel recently obtained a $1,200,000.00 settlement for the family of a teenage boy who died from suffocation when forcibly restrained by counselors at the Youth facility he attended. We can help you with your potential juvenile mental health facility injury case. Call “The Injury Lawyer” today for more information regarding your legal rights and options.
