Grand jury to probe teen’s death in lockup

Source: Miami Herald

Grand jury to probe teen’s death in lockup
Posted on Monday, 08.01.11

As Eric Perez’s death at a West Palm Beach lockup continued to reverberate Monday, prosecutors are trying to seal a key piece of evidence: a video of the teen’s final hours.

By Carol Marbin Miller
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

State prosecutors in West Palm Beach have convened a grand jury to look into the death of Eric Perez, a teenager who stopped breathing at a juvenile detention center after he sought medical care unsuccessfully for hours.

The Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office, which is spearheading the death investigation, also has asked a judge to prevent juvenile justice administrators from releasing a video that details Perez’s final hours at the lockup. Perez, 18, died at 8:09 a.m. July 10, about two weeks after he was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana, and several hours after he sought medical care for a severe headache and vomiting. The cause of his death remains undetermined.

In a court pleading filed Friday, the State Attorney’s Office said releasing the video to Perez’s mother, who has requested it under Florida’s public records law, “will cause irreparable harm to the pending criminal and grand jury investigation.”

Last spring, lawmakers passed a revision to the state’s public records law forbidding the release of pictures or recordings that show a person dying. The bill, which took effect last month, included one exception: spouses or parents of the deceased still may be given copies of such recordings. Maritza Perez, the dead teen’s mom, has made a formal request for it.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/01/2340907/grand-jury-to-probe-teens-death.html

Posted on Friday, 07.29.11
Florida finance chief won’t pay for funeral of teen who died in lockup

State juvenile justice chiefs had sought to help bury a teenager who died in their custody. But the state’s top finance administrator won’t let them.

By Carol Marbin Miller
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

The state’s top financial officer is refusing to pay the funeral expenses for a teenager who died in state custody after unsuccessfully seeking medical attention for several hours, despite a three-year-old policy to pay such costs.

Juvenile justice administrators had offered to pay up to $5,000 in funeral costs to bury 18-year-old Eric Perez, who died at the West Palm Beach detention center on July 10. But after the state cut a check to the Tillman Funeral Home, Florida’s chief financial officer ordered that the check be destroyed, records show.

Perez, who was detained at the Palm Beach County Juvenile Detention Center on a marijuana possession charge, would not have been the first child whose funeral expenses were paid by the state.

In November 2008, the Department of Juvenile Justice paid for the funeral of a Tampa Bay-area youth, said agency spokesman C.J. Drake. In January 2009, the agency helped bury a Highlands County youth. Drake could not identify the children due to confidentiality laws, he said.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/29/2337038/florida-finance-chief-wont-pay.html

Florida Pays To Bury Teen After Marijuana Arrest

8/1/2011 -State authorities in Florida caused a stir last week when they stopped a check to pay for the funeral services of a teenager who died after jail staff refused him medical attention. The West Palm Beach Post reported that a $5,000 check issued at the request of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) was destroyed last week by the state’s Chief Financial Officer. Today the same newspaper is reporting that state CFO Jeff Atwater re-issued the check.

On the night of July 9th Eric Perez as just another young resident in Florida with a small amount of marijuana. He turned 18 just a few weeks earlier. But the next morning Perez was dead. What happened in the time between is the subject of an intense and ongoing investigation. Some disturbing details have already emerged.

For the seven hours that Perez was in custody he was having severe headaches and was continuously vomiting. He pleaded for help. Guards have come forward to say they were directed by supervisors not to call 911 that night. (Those guards were then fired for following those orders.) Towards the end, Perez was moved to a bare “medical” cell and left without anyone to monitor him inside. At some point the guard assigned outside the door apparently went absent.

The tragic conclusion is all too clear: Eric Perez died completely alone and in great pain on the floor of that Juvenile Detention Center cell. His mother will receive the video of her son’s last moments.

More:
http://www.freedomisgreen.com/florida-pays-to-bury-teen-after-marijuana-arrest/

because it shows police misconduct and the police must NEVER be punished for lawbreaking.

He had previously swallowed drugs and then had a heart attack and died before he could get medical attention.