Together with 6 other teenagers and some staff members from Visionquest, Robert Zimmerman died in the Gulf of California, when the boat he was sent on went down with all hands lost.
Safety at sea demands a lot from the staff on the boat. What went wrong has never been fully revealed.
For the family of Robert Zimmerman the downing in the Gulf of California was a tragedy they had to share with 6 other families. Hopefully this tragedy will never be repeated.
May he rest in peace.
References:
Victims - 1980's (Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora Wiki)
Teen's sailing tour ends in storm disaster, Star-News - 28 Nov 1980
Un menor es abandonado en un islote en Fuerteventura como castigo por portarse mal, diario direct, May 22 - 2008 (In Spanish)
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Michael Keith Owens - 2010
16 year old Michael was restrained by the employees at Daystar Residential, Inc. in Texas. It was a common procedure. He died during the process. A death was also a common incident at exactly this facility because the facility had seen the deaths of Dawn Perry, Stephanie Duffield and LaTasha Bush had lost their lives at the facility years before.
But unlike the previous death he death made the difference for the authorities. They intervened and closed the facility down.
Why it should take that long and end the lives of 4 teenagers is difficult to understand but at least a fifth family was spared of the tragedy of losing their beloved child.
May he rest in peace.
Sources:
But unlike the previous death he death made the difference for the authorities. They intervened and closed the facility down.
Why it should take that long and end the lives of 4 teenagers is difficult to understand but at least a fifth family was spared of the tragedy of losing their beloved child.
May he rest in peace.
Sources:
- Teen's death puts Daystar facility under scrutiny — again (Houston Chronicle)
- Victims (Fornits Wiki)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Alexis Evette Richie - 2009
Alexis Evette Richie was allowed only 16 years in this life.
She had been sent to the SSM DePaul Health Center which unknown to her was a troubled place even before she got there.
The treatment center had a long story where numerous investigations had been conducted into the lack of safety of the patients.
Investigations which did not help her when she needed it. She was restrained and medicated but the employees failed to check on her when they left her.
It is sad that the state didn't intervene more strongly before. Maybe her life would have been spared.
We hope that she has found rest in the afterlife.
Sources:
She had been sent to the SSM DePaul Health Center which unknown to her was a troubled place even before she got there.
The treatment center had a long story where numerous investigations had been conducted into the lack of safety of the patients.
Investigations which did not help her when she needed it. She was restrained and medicated but the employees failed to check on her when they left her.
It is sad that the state didn't intervene more strongly before. Maybe her life would have been spared.
We hope that she has found rest in the afterlife.
Sources:
- Girl, 16, dies during restraint at an already-troubled hospital (Sankt Louis Post Dispatch)
- Nurse cited in DePaul death had been fired at another hospital (Sankt Louis Post Dispatch)
- SSM DePaul Health Center (Fornits Wiki)
- Victims 2005-9 (Fornits Wiki)
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Grace Christine James - 2010
Grace James was only 17 year of age when she was thrown out of a car in Utah. She had been committed to the Sunrise Residential Treatment Center and came from Arlington in Massachusetts.
Two cars from the facility was on an outing. The drivers tried to communicate with each other instead of putting their attention to the poor conditions of the road. As result of their actions one of the cars crashed killing a 17 year old student from the United Kingdom who had survived the swine flu.
Grace James was not killed at the crash. She survived some days at the hospital but despite hopes of recovery she didn't make it making it a tragedy beyond imagination. A scholarship named The Write With Grace Scholarship was made in her honor at Arlington High School which she attend before her tragic journey to Utah.
May she rest in peace.
Sources:
Two cars from the facility was on an outing. The drivers tried to communicate with each other instead of putting their attention to the poor conditions of the road. As result of their actions one of the cars crashed killing a 17 year old student from the United Kingdom who had survived the swine flu.
Grace James was not killed at the crash. She survived some days at the hospital but despite hopes of recovery she didn't make it making it a tragedy beyond imagination. A scholarship named The Write With Grace Scholarship was made in her honor at Arlington High School which she attend before her tragic journey to Utah.
May she rest in peace.
Sources:
- Troubled teen killed in I-70 rollover (Mid Utah Radio)
- Forty-nine States Slowly Realize Utah Is Not Safe Place for Children (MartyG Reports)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Christopher Ladell Hill - 2006
17 year old Chris Hill had certainly seen more in life than most children. All too much.
Various family members did their outmost to help him and his sibling when his mother passed away when he was only 4 years old. When his family gave up due to the economy, the State of Texas placed him in foster care. As life is for a child in foster care in almost every country it is constant movement between group homes and foster families. As some point he ended up at Azleway. The ranch markets itself with:
It certainly sounds nice, but for the boy and one of his friends the distance and isolation from their family and friends - their entire social network became too much.
They were killed when they were hit by a train. Was it a suicide or an escape attempt going wrong?
We cannot know. An article in Houston Chronicle states that it was suicide but none was there when it did happen, so can we be sure?
What we do know are that it was a tragedy for their family and a reminder to us to do everything possible to avoid residential care.
May they rest in peace.
Sources:
Various family members did their outmost to help him and his sibling when his mother passed away when he was only 4 years old. When his family gave up due to the economy, the State of Texas placed him in foster care. As life is for a child in foster care in almost every country it is constant movement between group homes and foster families. As some point he ended up at Azleway. The ranch markets itself with:
- A rural setting
- An on-campus school
- Structured homework time
- Family style outings
- Structured therapeutic recreation
- Boys Scout Troop
- Basketball goals
- Tennis courts
- Covered pavilion
- Recreation Center
- Athletic fields
- Sunday morning worship
- Wednesday evening chapel
It certainly sounds nice, but for the boy and one of his friends the distance and isolation from their family and friends - their entire social network became too much.
They were killed when they were hit by a train. Was it a suicide or an escape attempt going wrong?
We cannot know. An article in Houston Chronicle states that it was suicide but none was there when it did happen, so can we be sure?
What we do know are that it was a tragedy for their family and a reminder to us to do everything possible to avoid residential care.
May they rest in peace.
Sources:
- Victims 2005-9 (Fornits Wiki)
- Desperate boys likely chose death on train tracks (Houston Chronicle)
- Chief Of Police Talked To Azleway Runaways Killed By Train (KLTV 7)
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