Posted on Sun, Aug. 13, 2006

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PLANTATION

Boy, 13, dies after collapse at camp

A Plantation teenager died of unknown causes after a camping trip at a state park in North Miami.

By ROBIN M. PEGUERO AND WANDA J. DEMARZO

rpeguero@MiamiHerald.com

A Plantation boy camping out with other youths at a North Miami park died early Saturday after waking up in the middle of the night, raving incoherently.

The 13-year-old was part of a group from a juvenile military boot camp based in Lauderhill. Authorities did not release the youth's name late Saturday. But others on the camping trip said he awoke around 3 a.m. and then passed out in his tent at the Oleta River State Recreation Area.

The youth was taken to Parkway Regional Medical Center, where he died.

The cause of death is unknown and won't be available until the autopsy is conducted on Monday, according to North Miami police Maj. Ron Simpson.

There were no visible signs of injury.

The youth had been on a four-day camping trip with 30 boys and girls from Lauderhill's Back to Basics Military Academy, at 5770 W. Oakland Park Blvd. The boot camp helps teach Christian values, principal Lynda Browne told Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS 4.

Earlier in the day, the children had a relay race, Browne said. The teen was slow, she said.

Later that night, he needed to go to the restroom. A drill instructor escorted him. Shortly after paramedics were called.

''He got up in the middle of the night and he was, like incoherent, and then he passed out,'' Simpson said.

The academy -- listed as a religious, military-style boot camp for grades 4 through 12 on a Florida Department of Education website -- seeks to train youngsters in leadership and discipline.

Browne, of Plantation, is listed as the contact, on the website.

A recording says, in part, ``We are changing the lives of children daily.''

The kids, ages 11 to 16, wore military fatigues and engaged in military marches and leadership training at the park's Boy Scout compound.

It is unclear whether the heat had anything to do with the youth's death.

A HOT DAY

Temperatures soared into the low 90s at midday Friday in the North Miami area, according to National Weather Service's forecast office.

According to The Associated Press, Browne, the academy's principal, told WSVN-Fox 7 that the cadets were hydrated, fed and well-cared for during the excursion.

''This has been verified with our children,'' she said. ''They said none of them really understand what went on,'' she said.

Late Saturday, a relative answering the door at Browne's Plantation Gardens home said she was unavailable and upset about what had happened.

The kids arrived at the 993-acre park Wednesday and checked out at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The Oleta state park bills itself one of the largest urban parks in the state, situated on Biscayne Bay in northeast Miami-Dade. It offers canoe trails, a swimming beach, picnic pavilions and a fishing pier.

The child's parents live in Plantation and they were at the hospital until dawn and were resting before speaking to police, Simpson said.

The investigation is ongoing.

ANOTHER DEATH

Another teen death occurred at a boot camp in January.

Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died after a confrontation with guards at a juvenile boot camp in Panama City.

That investigation also is ongoing.

Miami Herald staff writer Trenton Daniel contributed to this report.