FL - Police investigate 7-year-old's hanging death

Police are investigating the death of a 7-year-old foster care child who reportedly hanged himself Thursday in the bathroom of a Margate home.

Officers received a 911 call of a possible hanging in the 6500 block of Northwest Ninth Street about 1:37 p.m., police spokesman Officer Vonley Williams said.

When officers arrived, they found the boy unresponsive, Williams said. The boy was taken to Northwest Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead at 2:45 p.m.

Williams said police were told the boy had hanged himself inside a bathroom.

Investigators have learned that the boy was a foster child and had been in the care of the Margate couple for about three weeks. Williams could not say how long the child was under the care of the state, but said he had moved several times.

''Apparently he's got a long history of being bounced around,'' Williams said.

Williams said police are reaching out to the boy's biological family. His guardian has been notified of the death.

Williams said an autopsy is to be performed to determine exactly how the boy died.

(snipped)

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1004367.html

OMG! This is so awful! 7 years old, bless his soul!

Found this

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...l-myers-hanging-death-b041709,0,3540017.story

Boy had troubled background, authorities say

also from that article

Gabriel's birth mother is incarcerated in Ohio, and he went to live with an aunt and uncle in South Florida in June 2008, Mann said. Four months later, he was placed in foster care after his aunt and uncle felt they didn't have the ability to handle his behavioral problems.

The first set of foster parents concluded they couldn't provide the care he needed and he was moved to the Margate home, Mann said.

The incident took place just a few weeks before Gabriel was set to move up to Ohio to live with his paternal grandfather, Mann said. The grandfather just had to finish a parenting class.

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God bless his little heart, how could he not have behavioral problems? I wish someone would have stuck it out and let him know that he was loved and wanted instead of just passing him around. I wonder where children that age get the idea of hanging?

Bless his heart. Given his age, it was probably an impulsive act. I do not think most 7 year olds grasp the "permanence" of something like this, though I do think they are entirely capable of having "I want to die or be out of here" feelings.

How sad. It's too bad his grandfather couldn't have taken him at the beginning. The boy was probably medicated at least with the usual ADD medications. I hope that didn't make the problems worse or that he was misdiagnosed and some meds made his behavior even worse.

southcitymom said:

Bless his heart. Given his age, it was probably an impulsive act. I do not think most 7 year olds grasp the "permanence" of something like this, though I do think they are entirely capable of having "I want to die or be out of here" feelings.

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I agree. Poor little fellow. Sounds like he was born into a miserable situation that didn't ever get much better. I had a distant eight year old cousin that they found in an old refrigerator. They called it an accident but most family members felt it was suicide; his parents continually abused him. Sometimes they just run out of hope.

He didn't mean to kill himself but to do something dramatic to get his "way". If he was that determined at age seven, imagine how determined, and deadly, he would be as he got older . He had no idea at age seven of the consequences of his behavior. Only a miserable life beyond our comprehension would drive a child to decide to risk his life over a disagreement over his lunch.

I want to see the 911 call and I want to know if they had him on any pysch meds. Seven year olds don't commit suicide. They just don't. I realize this child was probably wise for his age, but I don't believe for a minute he committed suicide. And hung himself, no less. I don't think so.

Salem

Salem said:

I want to see the 911 call and I want to know if they had him on any pysch meds. Seven year olds don't commit suicide. They just don't. I realize this child was probably wise for his age, but I don't believe for a minute he committed suicide. And hung himself, no less. I don't think so.

Salem

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I hate to be suspicious of anyone but this doesn't make sense to me either. How would this boy have thought of using the shower hose to hang himself?
I wouldn't think a seven yr old would be allowed to watch movies with hanging in them. He is just a little guy. But then who knows what he watched when he was with his mom. I can see him grabbing a knife and cutting himself but hanging? That's an adult thing. I hope LE really checks this out.

He hadn't really been passed around that much. This was only his second foster home and then he was going to go live with grandpa. I would think he would be excited about living with his grandpa. Maybe he did hang himself but it just doesn't fit in my opinion.

Broward foster child, age 7, hangs himself after tantrum
Depressed and filled with rage, a 7-year-old Broward foster child hanged himself Thursday. Authorities are searching for answers.
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

By the age of 7, Gabriel Myers had lost his mother to the ravages of drug addiction and incarceration, had been shuttled between an uncle and two foster homes, and had been in limbo for months as child welfare administrators in two states sought to reunite him with a grandfather.

His sad odyssey ended Thursday after he locked himself in the bathroom of a Margate foster home, announced his intention to kill himself and then hanged himself before the 19-year-old son of his foster father broke down the door. Child welfare administrators say Gabriel used the cord of a detachable shower head.

Administrators of the Department of Children & Families, which had custody of the youngster since June 2008, say they are investigating Gabriel's death. Representatives of several agencies and service providers met late Friday to begin gathering records and looking for answers.

''It's tragic every time a child dies, but it's particularly difficult when you have a 7-year-old whose life ended so tragically,'' said Jack Moss, who heads DCF's Broward operations.

(snipped)

CRISIS INTERVENTION

As recently as last month, a mobile crisis intervention team was dispatched to the foster home to decide whether the boy should be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital for treatment, Moss said. The team decided the boy did not meet criteria for commitment.

On Thursday, Moss said, Gabriel stayed home sick from school. Both foster parents went to work, and the youngster was left in the care of the father's 19-year-old son. At lunchtime, the boy became upset over a bowl of soup the teenager prepared for him and had a tantrum.

Gabriel stormed into the bathroom, announced his intention to kill himself, and locked the door, Moss said. The teenager called the foster mother for advice and was told to break the door down.

But by the time the young man got into the bathroom, Gabriel already was in distress. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1005550.html

IMHO, DCF needs to explain why they decided he didn't need psychiatric treatment.

SO, SO SAD! We as a nation are failing our children. RIP Little Lost Boy! God bless you.

:angel2: :angel2:

It concerns me that he was left at home with a nineteen year old. I'm not saying this young man had anything to do with his death. I just don't feel that a nineteen year old is prepared or experienced enough to deal with a child with these problems.

The mobile intervention team decided he didn't meet criteria for involuntary admission, not DCF. These crisis folks are usually the last "say" when it comes to commitment to psych.

I was a psych nurse for 17 years, and for a very short time worked as a crisis nurse for children's services in CA. The police or family would bring in a child, or teen under 19, in crisis, and I would determine if they met certain criteria -- very specific ones -- for commitment. Then, I would have an MD give the final word. In WA where I am now, RNs aren't part of the commitment process, specially trained psychologists are. In any event, each state has it's own variation, and the crisis team that evaluated this little boy did so based upon discreet criteria. People may meet the criteria one day, and not meet them the next.

IMO, it's the best we can do, and it's never going to be good enough because there is no sure fire thing in this world. We can only try to do better and learn from our mistakes, just like everything else

If those crisis people are worth their salt, they are looking back at this boy and learning what they can from this.

This little boy died from lack of connection and nurture. Our mental health system comes in too little too late, not because it is a bad system so much as it cannot turn back time and correct the cause. If mental health had been able to "keep him alive" long enough for him to reach his majority, and he'd been capable of making a real choice about his behavior, then there would have been hope.

Salem said:

I want to see the 911 call and I want to know if they had him on any pysch meds. Seven year olds don't commit suicide. They just don't. I realize this child was probably wise for his age, but I don't believe for a minute he committed suicide. And hung himself, no less. I don't think so.

Salem

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It is very sad. Yes a seven year old can attempt to commit suicide. It is very rare they succeed. Children as young as five have been sited in the literature as doing lethal harm to themselves.

It is rare enough I do agree with Salem all possibilites should be invertigated,

Petey,

Thanks for your input!

What really concerns me is that FL has a severe lack of beds for mental health patients. To the point that the head of DCF was held in contempt a few years back. (I'll find some links to post).

I really hope that it was not determined that Gabriel didn't meet the criteria, cuz there simply were no beds available

Nov 25, 2006 3:34 pm US/Eastern

Agency To Spend $5M For Mentally Ill Inmates' Beds
MIAMI (CBS4) ―

The head of the Florida Department of Children and Families announced Friday that $5 million in new funding will be used for inmates with severe mental illnesses.

DCF Secretary Lucy Hadi said Friday the money will open up 85 new beds to treat jail inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial on felony charges. About 300 men and women are currently waiting for beds at state hospitals.

"These beds will provide mentally ill offenders with the treatment they desperately need," Hadi wrote in the statement. "There is still much to be done."

Hadi had recently been threatened with jail time by Pinellas Circuit Judge Crockett Farnell, who said Hadi made a "conscious decision to ignore court orders" by not providing psychiatric care to mentally ill inmates.

(snipped)

http://cbs4.com/topstories/Florida.Mentally.Ill.2.400205.html

Oh, and the DCF spokesperson quoted in the above article recently pled guilty to making child *advertiser censored*.

Former Florida Department of Children and Families employee Al Zimmerman to plead guilty to lying to FBI

By Kevin Graham, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, February 12, 2009
TAMPA — A former spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families once boasted about a physical relationship with actor Keanu Reeves, according to documents filed Wednesday in federal court.

Al Zimmerman, who faces at least 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to producing child *advertiser censored*, also talked about partying with boys from Plant High School at his Tampa home, court records say.

Prosecutors included these details in a plea agreement for Michael Hernandez, a former DCF employee who has agreed to plead guilty to lying to authorities last year when they questioned him about Zimmerman.

(snipped)

In Hernandez's plea, he admits lying to FBI investigators about tampering with Zimmerman's work laptop and home computer. Hernandez worked as a computer technician for the DCF, and Zimmerman, 41, cultivated an out-of-office relationship with him, prosecutors said.

Zimmerman asked Hernandez to destroy files on his computers when he became concerned about a background check after applying for a job with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to court records.

Hernandez obliged, then tossed Zimmerman's home computer in a Tallahassee trash bin. The two had had a sexual relationship, Hernandez told authorities, and Hernandez said he had a key to Zimmerman's house. When the two first met, Zimmerman was 39 and Hernandez was 23, a college student working for the DCF.

(snipped)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article975105.ece

PeteyGirl said:

The mobile intervention team decided he didn't meet criteria for involuntary admission, not DCF. These crisis folks are usually the last "say" when it comes to commitment to psych.

I was a psych nurse for 17 years, and for a very short time worked as a crisis nurse for children's services in CA. The police or family would bring in a child, or teen under 19, in crisis, and I would determine if they met certain criteria -- very specific ones -- for commitment. Then, I would have an MD give the final word. In WA where I am now, RNs aren't part of the commitment process, specially trained psychologists are. In any event, each state has it's own variation, and the crisis team that evaluated this little boy did so based upon discreet criteria. People may meet the criteria one day, and not meet them the next.

IMO, it's the best we can do, and it's never going to be good enough because there is no sure fire thing in this world. We can only try to do better and learn from our mistakes, just like everything else

If those crisis people are worth their salt, they are looking back at this boy and learning what they can from this.

This little boy died from lack of connection and nurture. Our mental health system comes in too little too late, not because it is a bad system so much as it cannot turn back time and correct the cause. If mental health had been able to "keep him alive" long enough for him to reach his majority, and he'd been capable of making a real choice about his behavior, then there would have been hope.

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Outstanding post, PeteyGirl. I wanted to do more than just give it a thumbs up!