CIRCLEVILLE – A probe report by The State Highway Patrol after the death of a 17-year-old cited multiple violations that said may have caused the death of a child in their care.
17-year-old Robert Wright was found dead in his holding cell on August 31 by a guard who was waking him to take medication. Two nurses attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead soon after.
An autopsy uncovered that Wright had a small amount of amphetamine level in his body that was, “very low but could not be ruled out as a contributing factor due to Mr. Wright’s heart abnormalities.” The report also said that Wright did take medication but did not give information on what kind, but reported that he had a heart condition.
The report also said that a test of the water in the boy’s toilet system has traces of MDMA Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy.
The report criticized that multiple violations were found during the probe including two juvenile guards who were asleep while on duty, one who did not complete overnight rounds not properly checking on the youth. During the night of the teen’s death, one of the overnight guards spent 64 minutes talking to his girlfriend on three different calls, slept in a chair, and did not conduct timely rounds.
The report says that they cannot find the source for the amphetamine within the prison, since visitors were not allowed due to pandemic. The report did say that some of the children in the facility are prescribed amphetamines and did not admit to giving the medication to Wright. Also, video footage was reviewed, and did not find any staff members giving the drug to Wright.
In the wake of Wright’s death, DYS removed its former medical director, terminated the contract of the physician serving the Circleville facility, created the new positions of agency chief of health care services and a quality improvement manager, and will add one new nurse at each of the state’s three juvenile correctional facilities according to the report.
Wright was serving in the detention facility for sexual battery out of Hamilton County. The facility houses just over 100 children and young adults.
Original report here: http://www.sciotopost.com/youth-dies-circleville-correction-facility/
