(WWJ) His last words were similar to those of George Floyd, according to an attorney,
A civil, wrongful death lawsuit filed in Kalamazoo County following the death of a 16-year-old boy alleges that video from a Michigan youth facility recorded the teen screaming "I can't breathe!"
Cornelius Fredericks, who died two days after he was restrained at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo County, had an employee sitting on top of him, according to attorney Jonathan Marko.
Marko claims one staff member put his or her weight on Fredericks' chest for nearly ten minutes as the teen lost consciousness.
"He was sat on similar to how George Floyd was restrained, for up to 10 minutes," Marko said, in a conference call with reporters on Monday. "During that time he was screaming that he couldn't breathe, he was asking for help, and they didn't get off him, they didn't stop."
"According to the information we have from MDHHS (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services), they waited 12 minutes in order to get Cornelius help; they waited 12 minutes to do anything about it," Marco said.
When Fredericks died on May 1, authorities said the teen was being restrained because he threw a sandwich.
The lawsuit, which names Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo and Sequel Youth and Family Services as defendants, states: “The excessive use of restraints and the lack of concern for Cornelius’s life draw an eerily similar comparison to that of George Floyd’s death...Cornelius’s scream of ‘I can’t breathe’ was not enough to get the staff members to stop the excessive restraint.”
The suit seeks damages under the Michigan's Wrongful Death Act.
The company that runs the academy said in a statement it cannot comment on pending legal matters, but that leadership is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Frederick, and acted quickly to terminate all staff involved.
Lakeside Academy is a residential behavioral health treatment facility for youth who have been abused or neglected.
“We have been in regular contact with law enforcement and state officials to help ensure justice is served and have accelerated the work that was already underway across our organization to move to a restraint-free model of care,” the company said. “We take our obligation to meet the significant behavioral health needs of all our students incredibly seriously and remain focused on our mission of providing the absolute best care and treatment possible.”
Under orders from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, MDHHS will no longer work with the company that provided staffing for the facility.
Cornelius' died about a month before George Floyd, who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer who held him to the ground with a knee on his neck. Floyd's repeated words, “I can’t breathe,” have been chanted by Black Lives Mater protesters nationwide demanding an end to police brutality and reform of a criminal justice system that has treated people of color unfairly for decades.
The races of those involved in Fredericks' death were not stated in the lawsuit.