Three Charged in Death of Michigan Teenager Restrained at Youth Academy

At one point in the video, which was used as a source in the report, a staff member leans on Cornelius while a case manager pushes on that employee’s back, according to the report.

After four minutes, Cornelius stops moving. After about five more minutes, the staff members “release their hold, get up and there is no sign of struggle,” the report said. “The restraint, however, is not ended for 32 minutes, when the remaining staff release his arms and sit him up. Resident A appears unsteady when he stands, and staff escort him by both arms out of camera view.”

The report described the response as “significantly disproportionate to the behavior.”

In the report, one of the children who witnessed the episode said that he heard Cornelius “struggling for breath and said that sometimes staff hold residents ‘where your breathing is.’” Another child said he had heard Cornelius say at least twice that “he couldn’t breathe during the restraint,” the report said.

After Cornelius became “limp and unresponsive,” the staff members expressed concern about his breathing, coloring and pulse, according to the report. Another 12 minutes passed before 911 was called, the report continued.

Cornelius was taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo and was put on life support, the lawsuit said.

On June 18, the state’s health department said it had ended its contracts with Lakeside and had started the legal process to revoke its license, adding in a statement that Cornelius had been “wrongly restrained by staff.” The remaining children there have been relocated, it said.

Mr. Fieger, the lawyer, said Cornelius was at Lakeside as a ward of the state because his mother was dead and his father was unable to care for him.