Jamal Odum - 2003

The then 9-year-old Newport News boy was sent to a residential treatment center in South Carolina named New Hope when the staff for some unknown reason restrained him for 7 minutes which caused his death.

The tragic event was investigated by the police and 3 staff members were charged with homicide by child abuse.

What makes his death a disaster was the fact that it was known that placing the weight on his torso would risk killing him. Yet the staff members were not fully trained to restrain the children in a somewhat less dangerous way.

Lack of training are often a result of the management focusing on profit but this quest for money puts lives of children in danger, which this tragic death so clearly illustrate. It was far from the first case involving incidents at this facility but this turned deadly for the only 9-year-old boy.

May he find peace where he is now.


Sources:

• Tape Called Strong Evidence In Boy's Death (Daily Press)
• New Hope child died of 'asphyxiation' (Group State News)
• Deaths at residential teen programs (Residential Treatment Center Abuse)