No criminal charges to be filed in suffocation death of 12-year-old boy at North Carolina wilderness camp

By Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — No criminal charges will be filed over the death of a 12-year-old boy who suffocated at a North Carolina wilderness camp after staff mandated he stay overnight in a fully enclosed sleeping sack, the local district attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 12-year-old suffocated during his first night at the camp last February while being required to occupy a small, one-person sleeping enclosure, according to the medical examiner’s autopsy report, which ruled his death a homicide.

An investigation found the boy’s death “did not involve criminal intent or recklessness sufficient to warrant criminal charges for involuntary manslaughter under the law,” said Andrew Murray, district attorney for Transylvania, Henderson and Polk counties.

Murray said his office will not pursue criminal charges against Trails Carolina, the program for adolescents with behavioral or emotional issues where the boy died, citing the “high threshold” that must be met when considering charges of involuntary manslaughter.

“While we are deeply saddened by this tragedy, we must follow the law and make decisions based on the evidence and our legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Murray wrote in a statement.

The child’s family, who live in New York, has asked CNN not to publicize the his name. They did not wish to make any type of statement regarding the district attorney’s decision, a representative said.

In accordance with the camp’s protocol, the boy had been “placed to sleep in a bivy (small camping enclosure) with a sleeping mat and sleeping bag,” the autopsy report stated.

“It should be noted that a common warning on commercially available bivy products indicates that the outer, weather resistant opening should not be fully secured as it may lead to condensation and breathing restriction,” the boy’s autopsy report states. “This information was obtained on basic web search.”

The child had previously left his bivy sack to sleep outside of it. The counselors woke him and made him re-enter the bivy, the report noted.

“The opening to the bivy was then secured with an alarm device such that if the occupant attempted to exit the bivy, it would alarm and wake up the counselors in the cabin,” the autopsy report said.

“According to investigative reports, the internal mesh bivy door, which is normally used to secure the opening, was torn and the outer weather resistant door was instead (used) to secure the opening with the alarm device.”

Investigators from both the county sheriff’s office and department of social services interviewed the four adult camp counselors and five minors who were in the cabin the night of boy’s death.

They found that while the counselors knew the 12-year-old was “agitated and distraught with being required to sleep in the bivy,” at times “thrashing about and uttering incoherent gibberish,” none of them thought he was in “any type of medical distress.”

CNN has reached out to attorneys for Trails Carolina regarding the DA’s decision.

In a statement on February 6, the camp said, “We are shattered by the tragic loss of a young life and our deepest sympathies are with the student’s family and loved ones.” Two days later, the camp said “investigations have concluded that there is no evidence that Trails failed to properly supervise, no evidence that Trails caused harm, and no evidence that conditions at Trails were unsafe or unhealthy.”

Following the boy’s death and the launch of the investigation into the camp, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services started the process of revoking Trails Carolina’s license, according to documents obtained by CNN.

In March, the department sent a letter ordering Trails Carolina to suspend admissions because “conditions in the facility are found to be detrimental to the health and safety of the clients.” The letter cited violations involving medication requirements, incident response requirements and protection from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

The camp’s license was fully revoked as of October 22, according to the department.

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