Teen's death raises questions about care of juveniles ==================================================
Mobile Register (AL)-August 27, 2001
Author: BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
Teen's death raises questions about care of juveniles In lawsuit, mother contends 14-year-old might have been murdered at Tuskegee detention center By BILL POOVEY Associated Press Writer TUSKEGEE - Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at a juvenile lockup, a black leather belt looped over a closet clothes rod and around his neck.
The teen-ager's mother contends in a lawsuit that her child possibly was murdered in the dark by another detainee at the Three Springs detention center in Tuskegee.
The death and the lawsuit have raised questions about the treatment of juveniles at the center, which is run by Huntsville-based Three Springs Inc. The state's welfare agency has removed about a dozen teens who were assigned there, but the state Department of Youth Services has 25 juveniles at the Tuskegee site and 49 at a center Three Springs operates at Madison.
The company operates a total of 21 juvenile programs in Alabama and six other states.
Wendy Brooks Crew, a lawyer for Pickens' mother, said Pickens had been locked up in Tuscaloosa for truancy when he was transferred hundreds of miles to the Three Springs center at Tuskegee. Crew said Pickens' mother was not informed in advance about the transfer.
The lawsuit contends that Pickens' Oct. 15, 2000, death was due to inadequate supervision and that his designated supervisor was playing a video game when Pickens died. A medical examiner said the body was discovered in a bedroom closet about 9 p.m., with the bedroom adjacent to a common room used by about 20 other teen-agers.
Three Springs knew that Pickens, who was taking anti-depressant and psychotropic medication, had previously attempted suicide, Crew said.
The suit claims Three Springs Inc., which is paid $121.50 a day for each of the 25 DYS youths it keeps in Tuskegee, either allowed Pickens to be murdered by hanging or allowed him to commit suicide.
A Three Springs employee said Pickens was murdered, Crew said.
The state deputy chief medical examiner who was called and arrived at Three Springs about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2000, concluded after observing Pickens' body in the cinderblock room and following an investigation and autopsy that the death was a suicide.
DYS spokesman Allen Peaton said records of all 1,100 DYS detainees in state and corporate-owned lockups are confidential, even after a death. He also said DYS officials could not discuss Pickens' case because of the lawsuit.
"A priority of DYS is to place all 1,100 youths in our custody in safe and appropriate placements," Peaton said.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation referred its investigation report on Pickens' death to the Macon County District Attorney's Office. Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Gibbs said his office has reviewed the report. He said an investigation was continuing. Gibbs declined to say if his office has reached a conclusion about Pickens' death being a suicide.
Three Springs executives referred questions to their attorney, Marc Givhan of Birmingham, who issued a statement: "The entire Three Springs organization is saddened by the death of this young man. Because this matter is in litigation, it is inappropriate for us to comment further."
The suit contends that a doctor at Three Springs had recommended within three days of Pickens arrival that he have a psychological evaluation as soon as possible but Pickens was instead "housed in a room with nonbreakaway hardware" and allowed to have a belt.
Crew said Pickens never received a psychological evaluation and his death was more than a month after his arrival at Three Springs.
While DYS continues to use the Three Springs Tuskegee Secure Program, state Human Resources Commissioner Bill Fuller said that after he heard about Pickens' death last fall he removed all of the "12 or 13" abused and neglected teens in his department's custody who were assigned there.
"We had heard that a DYS child died of unexplained causes at the same site," Fuller said. "We were aware of that then and that was a factor" in moving them.
Fuller said the teens in DHR custody "each had their own youthful opinions" about how Pickens died.
"The atmosphere was generally oppressive for my children," Fuller said. "My primary reason was not the recent death so much as the physical conditions that my boys were exposed to day-to-day, a confinement atmosphere."
Crew said Pickens' mother, Louisa Dunn, is divorced from his father.
"When he was on his medication he did very well," Crew said. "When he was off his medication he was difficult for his mother to control."
She said Pickens was supposed to be starting 10th grade.
"It is my understanding he had no charges other than misdemeanors and what are called status offenses," Crew said. "He had problems at school, truancy ... couldn't focus and couldn't concentrate."
Pickens' juvenile court officer, Thomas Snoddy, did not return telephone messages seeking comment. JUVENILES IN CUSTODY The Alabama Department of Youth Services has a total of about 1,100 juveniles in custody, including about 208 girls. The contract lockups, number of beds they provide for state detainees and state's daily cost for each:
Alabama Clinical Schools at Birmingham: about 25 beds for male sex offenders, $145.35.
Three Springs Inc. at Tuskegee: about 25 beds, $121.50.
Three Springs Inc. at Madison: about 49 beds, $123.50.
Eufaula Youth Facility operated by First Corrections Corp. of Norfolk, Va.: about 90 beds, $90.50.
Big Brothers in Dothan community group homes for boys: about eight beds, $77.
Alabama Youth Home in Westover: about 12 beds, $74.
Alabama Youth Home in Wetumpka: about 12 beds, $74.
The Bridge Inc. girls' home at Decatur: about eight beds, $70.
West Alabama Youth Services Inc. at Greensboro: about eight beds for girls, $70.
Dorothy's House in Dothan: about eight beds for girls, $75.57.
The Bridge Wilderness boot camp for males at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $72.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $82.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Mobile: about 40 beds, $82.
The Bridge boot camp-wilderness program at Gadsden for girls: about 24 beds, $72.
Lee County Youth Development Center female boot camp-wilderness program for girls: about 16 beds, $80.
Oak Mountain Youth Services alcohol-drug interdiction program: about 24 beds for boys, $91.
Ramsey Youth Services Inc. for special needs boys: about 12 beds, $135.45. The state's average daily cost for each juvenile at the DYS Mount Meigs, Roebuck and Chalkville campuses is $137. State-operated boot camps in Autauga County and Thomasville are about $92. State-operated group homes at Gadsden, Mobile, Montgomery, Florence and Troy are $70-$80. Source: Alabama Department of Youth Services PHOTO DAVE MARTIN /Associated Press Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at the Three Springs detention center, above, in Tuskegee, Ala. A black leather belt was looped over a closet clothes rod and around the teen-ager's neck. His mother contends in a lawsuit that her child was possibly murdered by another detainee at the center.
Page B-1
Copyright 2001, Mobile Register. All Rights Reserved.
Mobile Register (AL)-August 27, 2001
Author: BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
Teen's death raises questions about care of juveniles In lawsuit, mother contends 14-year-old might have been murdered at Tuskegee detention center By BILL POOVEY Associated Press Writer TUSKEGEE - Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at a juvenile lockup, a black leather belt looped over a closet clothes rod and around his neck.
The teen-ager's mother contends in a lawsuit that her child possibly was murdered in the dark by another detainee at the Three Springs detention center in Tuskegee.
The death and the lawsuit have raised questions about the treatment of juveniles at the center, which is run by Huntsville-based Three Springs Inc. The state's welfare agency has removed about a dozen teens who were assigned there, but the state Department of Youth Services has 25 juveniles at the Tuskegee site and 49 at a center Three Springs operates at Madison.
The company operates a total of 21 juvenile programs in Alabama and six other states.
Wendy Brooks Crew, a lawyer for Pickens' mother, said Pickens had been locked up in Tuscaloosa for truancy when he was transferred hundreds of miles to the Three Springs center at Tuskegee. Crew said Pickens' mother was not informed in advance about the transfer.
The lawsuit contends that Pickens' Oct. 15, 2000, death was due to inadequate supervision and that his designated supervisor was playing a video game when Pickens died. A medical examiner said the body was discovered in a bedroom closet about 9 p.m., with the bedroom adjacent to a common room used by about 20 other teen-agers.
Three Springs knew that Pickens, who was taking anti-depressant and psychotropic medication, had previously attempted suicide, Crew said.
The suit claims Three Springs Inc., which is paid $121.50 a day for each of the 25 DYS youths it keeps in Tuskegee, either allowed Pickens to be murdered by hanging or allowed him to commit suicide.
A Three Springs employee said Pickens was murdered, Crew said.
The state deputy chief medical examiner who was called and arrived at Three Springs about 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2000, concluded after observing Pickens' body in the cinderblock room and following an investigation and autopsy that the death was a suicide.
DYS spokesman Allen Peaton said records of all 1,100 DYS detainees in state and corporate-owned lockups are confidential, even after a death. He also said DYS officials could not discuss Pickens' case because of the lawsuit.
"A priority of DYS is to place all 1,100 youths in our custody in safe and appropriate placements," Peaton said.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation referred its investigation report on Pickens' death to the Macon County District Attorney's Office. Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Gibbs said his office has reviewed the report. He said an investigation was continuing. Gibbs declined to say if his office has reached a conclusion about Pickens' death being a suicide.
Three Springs executives referred questions to their attorney, Marc Givhan of Birmingham, who issued a statement: "The entire Three Springs organization is saddened by the death of this young man. Because this matter is in litigation, it is inappropriate for us to comment further."
The suit contends that a doctor at Three Springs had recommended within three days of Pickens arrival that he have a psychological evaluation as soon as possible but Pickens was instead "housed in a room with nonbreakaway hardware" and allowed to have a belt.
Crew said Pickens never received a psychological evaluation and his death was more than a month after his arrival at Three Springs.
While DYS continues to use the Three Springs Tuskegee Secure Program, state Human Resources Commissioner Bill Fuller said that after he heard about Pickens' death last fall he removed all of the "12 or 13" abused and neglected teens in his department's custody who were assigned there.
"We had heard that a DYS child died of unexplained causes at the same site," Fuller said. "We were aware of that then and that was a factor" in moving them.
Fuller said the teens in DHR custody "each had their own youthful opinions" about how Pickens died.
"The atmosphere was generally oppressive for my children," Fuller said. "My primary reason was not the recent death so much as the physical conditions that my boys were exposed to day-to-day, a confinement atmosphere."
Crew said Pickens' mother, Louisa Dunn, is divorced from his father.
"When he was on his medication he did very well," Crew said. "When he was off his medication he was difficult for his mother to control."
She said Pickens was supposed to be starting 10th grade.
"It is my understanding he had no charges other than misdemeanors and what are called status offenses," Crew said. "He had problems at school, truancy ... couldn't focus and couldn't concentrate."
Pickens' juvenile court officer, Thomas Snoddy, did not return telephone messages seeking comment. JUVENILES IN CUSTODY The Alabama Department of Youth Services has a total of about 1,100 juveniles in custody, including about 208 girls. The contract lockups, number of beds they provide for state detainees and state's daily cost for each:
Alabama Clinical Schools at Birmingham: about 25 beds for male sex offenders, $145.35.
Three Springs Inc. at Tuskegee: about 25 beds, $121.50.
Three Springs Inc. at Madison: about 49 beds, $123.50.
Eufaula Youth Facility operated by First Corrections Corp. of Norfolk, Va.: about 90 beds, $90.50.
Big Brothers in Dothan community group homes for boys: about eight beds, $77.
Alabama Youth Home in Westover: about 12 beds, $74.
Alabama Youth Home in Wetumpka: about 12 beds, $74.
The Bridge Inc. girls' home at Decatur: about eight beds, $70.
West Alabama Youth Services Inc. at Greensboro: about eight beds for girls, $70.
Dorothy's House in Dothan: about eight beds for girls, $75.57.
The Bridge Wilderness boot camp for males at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $72.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Gadsden: about 24 beds, $82.
The Bridge drug and alcohol treatment program for boys at Mobile: about 40 beds, $82.
The Bridge boot camp-wilderness program at Gadsden for girls: about 24 beds, $72.
Lee County Youth Development Center female boot camp-wilderness program for girls: about 16 beds, $80.
Oak Mountain Youth Services alcohol-drug interdiction program: about 24 beds for boys, $91.
Ramsey Youth Services Inc. for special needs boys: about 12 beds, $135.45. The state's average daily cost for each juvenile at the DYS Mount Meigs, Roebuck and Chalkville campuses is $137. State-operated boot camps in Autauga County and Thomasville are about $92. State-operated group homes at Gadsden, Mobile, Montgomery, Florence and Troy are $70-$80. Source: Alabama Department of Youth Services PHOTO DAVE MARTIN /Associated Press Fourteen-year-old Dionte Pickens of Tuscaloosa died in state custody at the Three Springs detention center, above, in Tuskegee, Ala. A black leather belt was looped over a closet clothes rod and around the teen-ager's neck. His mother contends in a lawsuit that her child was possibly murdered by another detainee at the center.
Page B-1
Copyright 2001, Mobile Register. All Rights Reserved.
