Saturday, April 21, 2012

Travis Parker - 2005

13 year old Travis Parker entered the Appalachian Wilderness Camp, which was a wilderness program functioning around 2005.

He never left it alive.

Several counselors restrained him for more than an hour and denied him his asthma inhaler. An autopsy determined the face-down restraint caused his death.

The case was so clear for the police that they asked that charges for murder was raised against the counselors Ryan Chapman, Paul Binford, Mathew Desing, Torbin Vining, Johnny Harris and Phillip Elliott.

For reasons unknown to us the court decided to dismiss the charges. Thanks to the court the circumstances surrounding his death will never be fully explained to his poor family.

They were basically denied justice for the loss they experienced and poor Travis Parker did not live to grow up.

May he rest in peace.



Sources:

2 comments:

  1. I was present at the time this incident, not crime, occurred. Although Travis' death was a tragedy, the professional councilors did their job as they were directed and very well trained to do. I was a resident at this camp for 11 months so I have seen and been in my fair share of many different level security restraints, the do not start with the face down restraint, they started with a standing restraint and if that fails to work then they transition to what's called a sit down restraint and only when that doesn't work 2 or more councilors would then transition to a face down restraint, but they would never deploy the face down with only one councilor. Even though travis did have medical conditions, you can't forget that every youth in any Eckerd wilderness camp has been in some type legal trouble. I don't know about his legal trouble because it was against the rules to discuss for the purpose that we were there to better ourselves and not dwell on the past. All I'm saying is that he presented a serious immediate threat to himself, the rest of the group and also the councilors. Thanks for your time.

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  2. I was not present at the time of this incident, but I was one of the youths in this place for a year, a couple years before this incident took place. I definitely built the shelter where Travis slept and dug the latrine he used. Most of the counselors involved in this incident were the same staff as when I was there.
    Restraints were not restricted to use as a safety measure. They were more often deployed punitively. Some councilors may have cared for the kids, but their role was as jailors in a wilderness camp in the GA mountains with no electricity, one spigot, no plumbing, soggy mattresses in rickety shelters with canvas walls, where young boys are forced to do manual labor for a year until they become good boys. Sleep and food, were regularly withheld from children. Days of isolation would be used on a camper on the counselors whims if they feel like a kid is too snotty. When one kid steals or does something to get one over on the counselors, everyone was punished.
    A "restraint" meant an adult man slamming you to the gravel ground, his full body weight crushing on top of you, a 13 year old boy, while another counselor holds your legs. It would last between 10 minutes to hours. Everyone says they can't breathe because they can't breathe. It is so hard to breath, that you know you won't be able to keep it up without gasping until your diaphragm fails. But every kid gets told that if you're talking, you're breathing. Eventually, you'd be let go, depending on how mouthy you continued to be. Every kid comes out of a restraint covered in cuts and scrapes from being slammed on the pea gravel.
    I'm surprised they didn't kill one of us sooner. I wouldn't blame the counselors. I do blame the leadership of the place who had almost zero involvement with the boys at the camp. I also blame the entire premise, structure, and industry of these wilderness youth camps. They kill so many kids, it's not normal.
    Also, the boy who disappeared after restrained while I was there. What happened to you Shade Ray Shaw?

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