KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Officials are releasing more details on the death of a teen boy at a youth facility in Kalamazoo.
16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks went into cardiac arrest and passed away on May 1st, just two days after he was restrained for reportedly throwing food in the cafeteria at Lakeside Academy. The facility, located off of Oakland Drive, has been closed since the state suspended its license.
On Wednesday, Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner Dr. Ted Brown ruled that the suffocation death of Fredericks was a homicide, specifically, “sequelae of restraint asphyxia.”
Just hours after the cause of death was revealed, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting announced manslaughter charges against three Lakeside Academy employees.
A special investigation report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services stated that there were six to seven male staff members on top of Fredericks for about 12 minutes. It then took another 12 minutes before the 911 call was made.
Geoffrey Fieger, Fredericks’ family’s civil attorney, stated that “the white attorney for Sequel Youth Services of Michigan, Daniel Ferris, has refused to give the family the video of Cornelius’ killing.”
“It is time for the perpetrators to come clean,” Fieger said.
The family of Fredericks has also filed a lawsuit for $100 million dollars against Lakeside Academy and their managing company.
