Boy with autism died 'while care workers brought drinks and shopping'

Boy with autism died 'while care workers brought drinks and shopping'

NISKAYUNA, New York State, USA: A 13-year-old boy with autism died on February 15 after police say two care workers for the disabled drove him around for 90 minutes - running errands, buying beverages and shopping - when he stopped breathing in their van.

The men, one of whom allegedly used an improper physical restraint on the boy, Jonathan Carey, were both charged with manslaughter.

Colonie Police said the workers did not seek or offer medical help during the drive on February 15. Instead, the employees of the O.D. Heck Developmental Center in Niskayuna allegedly stopped to buy beverages, then a computer game and then dropped the game off at one man's home.

Edwin Tirado, 35, of 1634 6th Ave., Schenectady, and Nadeem Mall, 32, of 9 Plaske Drive, Schenectady, reported the boy needed medical attention only once they had finally returned to the O.D. Heck Center where the child, who was also mentally retarded, lived, police said.

The child, identified by police as Jonathan Carey, had been with the Niskayuna centre since his parents moved him from a Dutchess County facility they believed had abused him.

We are devastated," sobbed Mike Carey as he and his wife, Lisa, waited for an plane to bring them home. "He was such a special human being."

The Glenmont couple was on a long-awaited vacation together, having left their younger son with friends. It was to be a respite from the constant advocacy for Jonathan.

"We can't believe it," they sobbed from the St. Thomas airport in the Virgin Islands. "We are in total shock."

The accused O.D. Heck employees are being held in Albany County jail without bail.

Police said Mall was driving a van to take Jonathan Carey and a 14-year-old client, whose identity has not been made public, from O.D. Heck to Crossgates Mall, Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider said in a news conference on February 16.

Along the drive, Mall stopped for cash from an ATM and when he returned to the van, according to Heider, Tirado had the boy in the illegal hold. "The two adults rendered no aid and they did not return to O.D. Heck for an hour and a half," Heider said.

Efforts were made to revive the boy at the centre, and he was taken to St. Claire's Hospital in Schenectady, where he was pronounced dead. Police cannot say the boy died in the van because a person is not ruled dead until pronounced so by a hospital or medical examiner, the chief said. An autopsy is set for today.

"The 13-year-old succumbed to what we're alleging were improper and wrongful holds placed on him," Heider said.

Niskayuna Police were called first, but their investigation indicated the boy had been suffocated while being driven around Colonie, he said. Police said the 14-year-old client is verbal and was able to give them a description of the events.

"The bottom line is the Niskayuna police and the first responders did a fantastic job here in being able to pick apart their story," said Albany County District Attorney David Soares. "You couldn't ask for anything better."

Soares said the case would be put to a grand jury for indictment as soon as results of the autopsy are received. Although current information supports the charges of manslaughter, Soares said, he would not rule out the possibility of increased charges.

"It's too early to tell," he said. "At this point in time, my thoughts are with the Carey family."

The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, which oversees the centre, issued a statement on February 16 expressing sadness over the boy's death.

"Officials have been and will continue to work closely with law enforcement as they piece together what happened," the statement said, adding the agency provides "intensive staff training, monitoring and follow-up of any use of behavioural interventions and, given the current situation, these protocols will once again be reviewed."

Spokeswoman Deborah Sturm Rausch said she was not sure if she could find information about what Mall and Tirado's exact job titles were, or whether they had to be, or were, licensed.

Tirado, who had worked at the agency for six years, was the person restraining the boy but Mall had an equal responsibility for failing to provide or get medical assistance, Heider said. He declined to specify what hold was used but said the boy suffocated.

A woman answering the door with an infant at Mall's Schenectady home declined to comment. There was no answer when a reporter approached Tirado's home.

Since 2004, the Carey family has fought for legislation to force state agencies to disclose information they said could prove abuse of patients like their son. In October that year, Mike said he found Jonathan, then 11, naked, covered in bruises and lying in his own urine in the Anderson School in Dutchess County. The father had popped in unexpectedly to visit his son and took him home the same day.

The Careys said they never knew what their son endured because Jonathan was non-verbal and could not tell them himself. He was moved to O.D. Heck where the Careys said in December he was doing well.

The Careys described the fawn-haired boy with huge cerulean eyes as a good son who loved his father and mother. "He loved to watch Jesus films," Mike said softly. "He loved people and wanted to be around people. He loved horses. There was just so much love in his heart."

Jonathan was a regular visitor of the New Horizons stable on Pearse Road. When he was riding horses, Jonathan seemed happy, his parents said.

The Careys sued Anderson School in 2005, in state Supreme Court in Albany, claiming the institution and its staff violated Jonathan's right to safety and nourishment.

In December, Mike Carey said, "No parent or guardian should ever have to go through what Lisa and I have had to endure just to get answers. We would have been arrested if what happened to Jonathan had happened at home."

Since then, the couple has fought to get sealed records opened that they believe could reveal who had physically abused the boy as well as who knew it but did nothing to prevent it or report it. He said he hoped his son's death would enable the family to get the law changed.

"This is what we had been concerned about, what we have been fighting for," Mike said, of his son's death. "We really felt compelled, like a God-given responsibility, to help other children, to get changes and reform to help prevent something like this from happening."

Jonathan's death is prompting county lawmakers to renew calls for the passage of Jonathan's Law. The Rensselaer County Legislature is now calling on state lawmakers to take action and pass the Bill. If it passes, the law would give parents the right to access their children's records. Right now, that information cannot be released and acts of abuse can be concealed from families.

Jonathan's family has been trying to get a law passed since 2004, after they said their son was being mistreated at a Dutchess County facility.

(Source: Albany Times Union, February 17, 2007)