TALLAHASSEE -- The mother of a 14-year-old boy said Wednesday that her son was murdered by guards who beat him at a boot camp for juvenile offenders in Panama City.Bay County sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth Sasser declined comment because of the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 death of Martin Lee Anderson. The sheriff's office, which runs the camp, has said the boy was restrained after he became uncooperative.
"My baby was murdered," his mother, Gina Jones, said at a news conference. "Don't let my baby's death be in vain."
Also Wednesday, the Legislature's black caucus urged the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to remove himself from the investigation because he previously had been Bay County sheriff. But Gov. Jeb Bush said he remained confident in FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell and didn't plan to make any decisions until the formal investigation was completed.
Some legislators, however, weren't as confident in the investigation that already has taken about six weeks. Law enforcement authorities have resisted legal efforts by news organizations and others to obtain a video tape that two lawmakers said showed the beating.
In other new developments, the Florida Southern Christian Leadership Conference asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate all deaths in Florida's juvenile system the last five years, including Anderson's.
Lawmakers and the NAACP also asked for arrests in the Anderson beating and called on Bush to appoint a special prosecutor.
"It's tragic, but to shut down the boot camps or to have a special prosecutor without having seen the investigation and seeing what needs to be done I think is a little premature," Bush responded.
The boy's parents joined lawmakers and NAACP spokesman Anthony Viegbesie at the Tallahassee news conference where enlarged before-and-after photos of the boy were shown -- one a smiling, skinny kid and the other his bloated body in his casket.
Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen ordered drill instructors to stop using ammonia capsules on teens suspected of faking unconsciousness. The orders are dated the day Anderson died.
An attorney for the Anderson family, Ben Crump, said the guards forced ammonia tablets up the boy's nose in efforts to keep him conscious. Exposure to ammonia can cause eye irritation, coughing, lung damage and even death in high enough concentrations.
The Florida State Conference of the NAACP also announced it was seeking an injunction to release the videotape seen by some of the governor's aides and at least two state House members. Viegbesie said they would also ask the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Anderson's civil rights were violated.
Meanwhile, Department of Juvenile Justice officials -- with the absence of vacationing agency secretary Anthony Schembri -- were grilled Wednesday by a House committee looking for answers on the recent rash of deaths in Florida boot camps. Three teenagers have died in state custody in the last three years.
Gus Barreiro, the Miami Beach Republican chairing the committee, said Wednesday he favors eliminating programs that don't work. The black caucus is unanimously opposed to boot camps.
He was further frustrated by Schembri's absence.
"He should've been here ... especially on the heels of such a tragedy like this," Barreiro said.
Bush and many Republicans in both legislative chambers remain supportive of boot camps. Members of Barreiro's committee want to save the Martin camp, widely considered the most successful in the state.
"This is the one that needs to be duplicated," Barreiro said.
The boot camp concept in Florida began with nine facilities, but will soon be whittled to four if the Martin County camp closes as scheduled later this year because of local subsidy issues. About 600 boys between ages 14 and 18 remain in the existing camps.
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