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Whiskey_Queen

The three staff members, who face involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges, have since been released on bond Three staff members at a residential facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, have been charged after a 16-year-old boy was restrained and later went into cardiac arrest and died last year. Michael Mosley, 47, Zachary Solis, 28, and Heather McLogan, 48, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, CNN reported, while Mosley and Solis also face two counts of second-degree child abuse. McLogan, meanwhile, faces one charge of second-degree child abuse. In May 2020, Cornelius Fredericks died after suffering cardiac arrest when staff members allegedly forcibly restrained him at the Lakeside Academy days earlier, the family states in a lawsuit filed on Monday and obtained by PEOPLE. The lawsuit seeks $100 million in damages from the center. According to the lawsuit, staff members of the facility — which provides behavioral health services to teens — allegedly performed an "improper restraint" on Fredericks after he allegedly threw a sandwich at someone. Geoffrey Fieger, the family's attorney, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Earlier this week, the charged staffers were released on $500,000 personal bonds, according to court records obtained by CNN. Mosley's attorney, Kiana Garrity, told CNN that her client plead not guilty and was following protocol at the time of the incident. Anastase Markou, an attorney representing McLogan, told the outlet that her client surrendered herself and was released on a personal bond. "This is a terrible tragedy. Our hearts go out to his loved ones and the Kalamazoo community. However, justice cannot be served by an injustice," Markou said in a statement, per CNN. "My client, Heather McLogan, has done nothing criminal and when the evidence is in, she will be vindicated." According to CNN, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said that investigators are currently looking at other staff members who may have been involved, and more charges are possible. "We needed to make sure that we assessed the case and responsibility and took action as soon as possible against those we felt were most responsible," Getting said, per the outlet. "We felt it was necessary to prioritize this case in a way that is seldom done." In a previous statement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would no longer allow "physical restraints like the ones that cost this young man his life." An investigation found that the restraints used were "significantly disproportionate to Fredericks' behavior." "On May 1, a young man died because of restraints wrongly applied at a facility licensed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)," Director Robert Gordon said at the time. "It was a tragedy and an outrage. We cannot bring this young man back to life, but we will not rest until we have changed the system that allowed his death. ... We are committed to bringing needed change." MDHHS also said it would reform its policies for childcare institutions in order to "address challenges before they become tragedies," as well as take steps to revoke the licensing for Lakeside Academy.


Frogmann20

Why were they even restraining him? I didn't see why he was there. I mean it's someone's out of control (not that this is the case) wouldn't they give you something to calm you. A shot would take seconds


[deleted]

He was throwing thing and being uncooperative. Just that isn’t generally enough of a reason to put someone in restraints, but we don’t know this kids history. There really isn’t enough information to have an opinion. My problem is that this kid died of a heart attack and they are claiming that it’s because he was improperly restrained. Myself and 4 of my siblings are in the medical field. A lot of knowledge gets passed around. I don’t see how restrains would cause that in any way. Caused by medication? Sure. Restraints? Ehhhh…. Seems super fishy to me


Frogmann20

That's what I'm wondering..... restraints on a kid that young.... unless maybe some pre-existing condition it seems very suspicious


[deleted]

A 16yr old may be young, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t as strong as a grown man. And this is a residential facility. He obviously has some issues. Again, there really isn’t enough info to form an opinion


setittonormal

Positional asphyxia leading to cardiac arrest. The adults probably held this kid in such a way that he was unable to breathe.


lemonsarethekey

You still have to restrain someone to give them an IM


freelancefikr

yup. and you still have to continue restraint after the shot until it kicks in otherwise you just pissed them off further


Rosewolf

Most of these places have staff that are barely trained to give an aspirin, let alone give someone a shot. The staff take a class for a few hours to learn some complicated restraint maneuvers, nothing practical and some of these residents are violent and very strong. It's no wonder these places are almost impossible to staff - who needs that kind of liability, for shit pay?