Bowling Brook Preparatory School staff members continued to restrain Isaiah Simmons III even after he lost consciousness, according to documents obtained by The Examiner on Monday.
State juvenile officials released seven witness statements written by staff members of the private residential facility for juvenile offenders in Keymar, detailing the last moments of the 17-year-old Baltimore City boy?s life at the academy.
The Carroll County Sheriff?s Office is investigating the death of Simmons, who died Jan. 23 after an altercation with staff in which he threatened harm to himself and others.
Simmons? cause of death is still unknown, said Edward Hopkins, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.
“Isaiaheventually stopped fighting back for several minutes and when spoken to did not respond,” wrote staff member Brian Kanavy.
“Therefore [another staff member] placed him in a seated upper torso restraint, but still no response verbally and physically. He was taken outside, still no response. At that point, he was moved back inside the house. I went to get the defibrillator, while CPR was begun … 911 was contacted at this point.”
Staff member Donnie Harding wrote that he “placed Isaiah into a standing one-man restraint” and in a “seated position due to his increased levels of aggression.”
Simmons announced he would “spaz out,” and then threatened to fight and “shoot” another student, according to the initial incident report.
School officials wrote in various reports that Simmons threatened to urinate and defecate as school staff restrained him and, after a struggle with staff members, fell unresponsive.
The struggle started at 4:45 p.m., but staff did not call an ambulance until 8:15 p.m.
As of Friday, 61 of the 73 students the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services placed at the school have transferred out, Hopkins said.
Simmons family lawyer Steven Heisler has asked lawmakers to draft legislation to prevent this situation from happening again.
Examiner staff writer Kelsey Volkmann contributed to this report.
