The day before a teenage Kentucky girl was found dead in her juvenile detention cell, staff used an “aikido restraint” on her, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice confirmed Friday.
16-year-old Gynnya McMillen was restrained after refusing to remove her sweatshirt in order to be searched and photographed for booking at the Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center, the spokesperson, Stacy Floden, wrote in an e-mail.
“The staff performed an aikido restraint hold to safely conduct a pat-down search and remove the youth’s hoodie,” Floden wrote. “The purpose of having multiple staff involved in a controlled restraint is to ensure the safety of the youth and staff.”
The teen’s “repeated refusal to cooperate with staff and remove her outer garment prompted the restraint,” Floden wrote.
It’s not clear if the “aikido restraint” factored into McMillen’s death on Jan. 11. Her death is currently under investigation by the Kentucky State Troopers and the Justice Cabinet’s Internal Investigation’s Branch. Officials have so far indicated they believe McMillen died in her sleep.
Officials confirmed Thursday that Reginald Windham, a Lincoln Village Juvenile Detention Center employee, was placed on paid administrative leave. Officials said Windham, who has been with the state’s juvenile justice department for 10 years, failed to check on McMillen every 15 minutes, a requirement for those in isolation at the detention center in Elizabethtown.
McMillen was placed in a cell by herself on Jan. 10, and officials say she was found dead, in a sleeping position, the next day at 9:55 a.m. Officials previously confirmed to 48 Hours’ Crimesider that McMillen did not respond that day when food was offered at 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., or later when her mother called. It is not clear when McMillen died, but she was not checked on, despite her lack of communication.
It is not clear why McMillen was alone in a cell or how often she was checked on throughout the night. In Kentucky, youths in isolation must have video surveillance at all times. That footage has been turned over to investigators.
Source: CBS News
Video surveillance of the 16-year-old shows her last movements came shortly before midnight on Jan. 10, about 10 hours before she was found unresponsive, according to a Hardin County coroner.
The coroner, Dr. William Lee, said video shows Gynnya McMillen changed positions in her bed about 12 a.m. and then did not move again. He estimated she had been dead about three hours when a sheriff’s deputy arrived at the Lincoln Village Regional Juvenile Detention Center to bring her to court about 10 a.m. on Jan. 11.
If Lee’s account is accurate, an employee at the detention center offered Gynnya breakfast about the time she died, 6:30 a.m.
Gynnya was in a private room at the Lincoln Village Regional Juvenile Detention Center and under video surveillance the entire 24 hours she was in custody after she was arrested on a domestic violence charge.
The video of Gynnya’s room was “under continuous monitoring by staff in the control room” and employees looked in her room “at various intervals” throughout the night and morning “to see that she was sleeping and in no apparent distress,” Floden said.
Lee said an autopsy ruled out foul play, as there were no obvious signs of trauma or a drug overdose. A toxicology report will take about six weeks.
“Right now, we don’t know why she died,” Lee, the Hardin County coroner, said. It’s puzzling. You don’t see many healthy 16-year-olds die without a good cause.
Kelly Cable, spokesman for the Shelbyville Police Department, said Gynnya was arrested about 2 a.m. on Jan. 10 on a domestic violence related offense at her home and charged with fourth degree assault.
Lee said the autopsy showed no obvious congenital heart problems.
Source: WDRB
