Astrid Valdivia - 2011

Astrid Valdivia life was short. Only 13 years she was allowed. She was placed at Utah Youth Village but while she could be been watched, the facility failed her and she ran away with a man. The authorities tried to get her but the man was armed and during a shoot-out with the police a bullet struck the poor girl

Her family expected more from the facility and rightfully they should have gotten more but all too often economy matters more than the security of the children in such facilities.

Her death was so unnecessary and she will be missed by family and friends

Sources:

• South Salt Lake police seek missing teen last seen at foster home (Deseret News)
• Family of 13-year-old killed in shootout files wrongful death lawsuit (Deseret News)
• Family of slain teen files wrongful death lawsuit against state (KSL News)

Taylor Goodridge - 2022

History so cruel repeated itself when 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge died while attending Diamond Ranch Academy. She had complaimed about her health in the weeks before her death.

This was the third known death during the years the school has been in operation. In 2013 a marketing event was interrupted because a student decided to hang himself in the showers. The rescue could only start when the potential customers had been removed from the area and rescue came too late. In 2009 a student also arrived at the hospital too late. None ever have stepped forward so the world could learn whether the boy had complained about his health as Taylor Goodridge very clearly did. Anyhow it was too late for both.

The family of Taylor Goodridge properly believed that their daughter was safe at the facility which is a huge business in that part of Utah where jobs are needed and the authorities have to weight the security of the patients against number of jobs.

Fact is that they were failed by the facility. Will a death again just be noted without consequences for Diamond Ranch Academy? They got off easy the other times.

Regardless of the legal outcome, fact is that a family suffered the loss of a loved one. We can only offer our prayers.

May she rest in peace where she is now

Sources

• ACADEMY SUED Horror details after Taylor Goodridge, 17, dies at boarding school when ‘officials ignored her crippling pain’ (The Sun)
• Diamond Ranch Academy sued, put on probation after 17-year-old resident dies (Reddit Troubled teens)
• Teen facility in Washington County put on probation after resident dies (Deseret News)

Raiden Toms-Moonin - 2022

Raiden Toms-Moonin only managed to be on this planet for 15 years. Due to her placement at Oak Plains Academy which seemed to a facility with little oversight and monitoring of the patients, tragedy struck when some girls stumpled upon dangerous medication left without the proper security you should expect of such a facility.

Her life was already in danger when she entered the faciltiy and her family was promised security. Security they never got.

The authorities are now looking in to how the facilty was managed. A little too late to save a girl aged only 15 years.

We can only pray for a family who believed they took the very best step to secure the life of their daughter and was so tragically failed.

May she rest in peace

Sources

• Mother of teen who died in the care of Oak Plains Academy speaks out (News Channel 5)
• Authorities execute search warrant at Clarksville treatment facility (WSMV News)
• SCHOOL CHAOS Ten middle schoolers overdose only a day after 2 girls died when they took medicine stolen from school nurse’s office (The Sun)

Summer Rose Lambert - 2022

Summer Rose Lambert was only 15-years-old, when she was taken to the hospital due to an overdose of medication from the facility she was sent to in order to be treated for undisclosed reasons. Her family believed her to be safe, but tragically the medication was not put in a safe place out of reach from the patients and while a number of other patients only got sick from an overdose, Summer Rose Lambert sadly did not make it.

The authorities now needs to figure out while the facility named Oak Plains Academy managed to store medication without taking precautions against possible overdoses. It simply should not happen that a girl which should have an entire life in front of her so tragically lose her life before her life really was lived.

Imaging believing that your relative should be in a safe place only to be cheated. Maybe profit was prioritized too much, maybe there were not enough employees around. That is some of the issues the authorities now have to look into. Why does such tragedies only catch the attention of the authorities when people have died. Why did this facility not receive proper supervision before the deaths?

There is no sense to make of this. May she rest in peace where she is now.

Sources

• Summer Rose Lambert (Legacy)
• Search warrant executed for Oak Plains Academy after teen deaths (News Channel 5)
• 10 Students Overdose Following The Death Of 2 Girls Who Took Stolen Medication From Nurse's Office (yahoo News)

(yahoo News)

Clay Hensley - 2020

Clay Hensley became victim of a foster care system. He was placed at the Great Circle group home in St. James simply because they could offer to house him cheaper than some of their competitors. Now because they could provide better conditions for a boy in his medical and mental condition but simply because they could offer something cheap.

It is very simple to state that there was not the proper level of supervision. Maybe it also had some root in a budget somewhere but the result was a tragedy. He was killed by two other residents according to the police.

Some who met him while he was alive stated to the media that he had some potential. If true, he was robbed from the chance of pursuing them. The world might never know what he could have achieved and the reason was so simple that it was a question about money.

It is simply so sad for his family left behind and those who knew him.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Current and former staffers call for reform at Great Circle (Phelps County Focus)
• Obituary (Simpson Funeral Home on Facebook)
• 2 charged with murder after escaping a Great Circle facility (KY3 News)