No criminal charges have been filed in the North Carolina wilderness camp death

CNN
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No criminal charges will be filed in the death of a 12-year-old boy who suffocated at a North Carolina wilderness camp after staff ordered him to sleep in a fully enclosed sleeping bag, the local district attorney announced Wednesday.

The 12-year-old suffocated on his first night at the camp in February last year when he had to be placed in a small one-person shop Sleeping enclosure, according to the medical examiner’s autopsy report, which ruled his death a homicide.

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

Murray said his office would not pursue criminal charges against Trails Carolina, the program for youth with behavioral or emotional problems where the boy died, citing the “high threshold” it meets when considering involuntary manslaughter charges must.

“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, which is beyond a reasonable doubt,” Murray wrote in a statement.

The child’s family, who live in New York, has asked CNN not to publish his name. They declined to comment on the district attorney’s decision, a representative said.

According to camp protocol, the boy was “placed in a bivouac (small camping enclosure) with a sleeping mat and sleeping bag for sleeping,” the autopsy report said.

“It should be noted that a general warning on commercially available bivouac products indicates that the external weatherproof opening should not be fully secured as this may result in condensation and difficulty breathing,” the boy’s autopsy report states. “This information was discovered through a simple web search.”

The child had previously left his bivouac bag to sleep outside. The counselors woke him up and forced him to re-enter the bivouac, the report said.

“The opening to the bivouac was then secured with an alarm device so that the attendants in the cabin would be alerted and awakened if the resident attempted to leave the bivouac,” the autopsy report states.

“Investigation reports indicate that the bivouac’s inner screen door, normally used to secure the opening, was torn and the outer weatherproof door was instead used to secure the opening with the alarm device.”

Investigators from the county sheriff’s office and the Department of Social Services interviewed the four adult camp counselors and five minors who were at the cabin the night the boy died.

They found that while the caregivers knew that the 12-year-old was “upset and disturbed about having to sleep in the bivouac,” at times “flailing and spewing incoherent gibberish,” none of them believed that he was was in “some type of medical distress.”

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

In a statement on February 6, the camp said: “We are devastated by the tragic loss of a young life and our deepest condolences go out to the student’s family and loved ones.” Two days later, the camp said: “The investigation has shown “that there is no evidence that Trails failed to properly monitor, no evidence that Trails caused harm, and no evidence that conditions at Trails were unsafe or unhealthy.”

After the boy’s death and the initiation of the camp investigation, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services began 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 at the facility were found to be detrimental to the health and safety of clients.” The letter cited violations of medication requirements, incident response requirements and protection from harm, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

According to the ministry, the camp’s license was completely revoked on October 22.