KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A group advocating for children in the justice system is criticizing a youth center in Kalamazoo.
Lakeside Academy has been embroiled in controversy since the death of 16-year-old student Cornelious Frederick was made public on May 1st.
Frederick was restrained by staff members at the facility after throwing a sandwich, causing him to go into cardiac arrest and become unresponsive. Arriving paramedics and law enforcement were able to revive the teenager, but he eventually died from complications at Bronson Methodist Hospital.
News of Frederick’s death caused some students to fight and run away from the facility. Neighbors of the property described “riot-like” disturbances and students trespassing through the nearby area. Since then nearly all students have been accounted for, but Lakeside Academy is still facing heat for it’s handling of the incident.
“No one should lose his or her life for throwing a sandwich,” said Mary King, Executive Director for the Michigan Center for Youth Justice in a statement to WWMT.
The group is has posted a Change.org petition on its website called “#JusticeForCornelious”, requesting that Lakeside Academy and other youth facilities that contract with the for-profit company Sequel Youth and Family Services be shut down. The family services company has been accused of placing vulnerable youth in facilities where they may face abuse.
King told the media outlet that the Michigan Center for Youth Justice is working with the National Juvenile Justice Network, petitioning governors to ban the company from serving children and teens.
Sequel Youth and Family Services currently contracts with two facilities in Michigan, Lakeside Academy and Starr Albion Prep.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety both announced earlier in May that they had opened up separate investigations over the student’s death at Lakeside Academy and other alleged complaints.
In a statement, King said that both those involved in restraining Frederick and leaders of the organization should be held accountable for their center’s practices.
After the student passed away, students began to get tested en-mass for COVID-19. Test results quickly came to show a large percentage of students with the virus.
Since then nearly all of the students have been transferred to other facilities around the state after being processed by social workers.
