Suit settled over trans teen’s suicide at detention center

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The mother of a transgender teenager who died by suicide at a youth detention center in Maine has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the state for $225,000. The Bangor Daily News reported the settlement on Thursday in the 2016 death of 16-year-old Charles Knowles at Long Creek Youth Development Center. Michelle Knowles filed the lawsuit in federal court in April against the Maine Department of Corrections. The Maine attorney general’s office declined to comment on the settlement. Charles was on suicide watch, and his death prompted a review of the facility’s ability to handle the mental health needs of people who are detained there.