Sep 12, 2007 4:38 am US/Eastern
Mom Begs For Civil Rights Charges In Son's Death
BALTIMORE (AP) ―
The mother of a youth who died after being restrained by staff at a private reform school has sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, pleading with the agency to bring civil rights charges against the six people charged in his death.
The six staff members are charged with reckless endangerment in the January death of 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons at the now-closed Bowling Brook Preparatory School in Carroll County.
In the Aug. 28 letter, Simmons' mother, Felicia Wilson, wrote, "We would like to think that race played no part in the state's attorney's and the grand jury's decision not to prosecute for manslaughter, but we simply can reach no better conclusion."
Simmons, from Baltimore, was black. Carroll County, where Bowling Brook was located, "is a mostly white county with a white state's attorney and grand jury. All but one of the defendants is white," Wilson wrote in her letter, which she also sent to Maryland's U.S. attorney, Gov. Martin O'Malley, the NAACP and three members of Maryland's congressional delegation.
Medical examiners ruled Simmons' death a homicide, but the grand jury declined to indict the six employees on the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, each could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
"What led to his death is not being addressed," said Simmons' sister, Danielle Carter, 26. "Not only are we grieving (Simmons') death, we have to fight for justice being denied."
Deputy State's Attorney Dave Daggett, who is prosecuting the case, did not immediately return a call Tuesday evening seeking comment. A Justice Department spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
Bowling Brook was under contract with the state of Maryland to educate boys in trouble with the law. Youths at the residential school, including some from Pennsylvania, were moved to other schools after it closed.
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services placed Simmons at the school after a 2006 conviction for robbery with a deadly weapon.
School officials told investigators Simmons became enraged for no apparent reason and was restrained after threatening to harm other students and staff. He lost consciousness as he struggled with staff members, according to the Carroll County sheriff's office.
Staff initially believed he was pretending to be asleep, according to the school's report to the state juvenile justice department.
Wilson wrote, however, that eyewitnesses have said Simmons had repeatedly begged the counselors "to let him up because he couldn't breathe."
The indicted employees are accused of not calling 911 for 41 minutes after Simmons became unresponsive.
Attorneys representing the charged counselors are asking that their clients be granted separate trials. At a hearing Monday, attorneys for some of the defendants argued that trying the defendants together would damage their ability to conduct cross-examinations. Prosecutors said there is legal precedent for a single trial. Judge Barry Hughes did not say when he would rule on the issue.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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