Mother Outraged By Boot-Camp Videotape
Says Tape Is Proof Guards Killed Her 14-Year-Old Son
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Boot Camp Beating Death
A video camera captured the horror of what happened when a teenage boy in Florida was beaten at a juvenile detention boot camp and wound up dead. Jim Acosta reports.
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Parents On Camp Victim's Death
CBS News RAW: The parents of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson believe footage from a Panama City, Fla., boot camp security camera shows that guards beat their son to death.
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Gina Jones, left, mother of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, wipes her face as her attorney Ben Crump, right, speaks at a news conference regarding the death of her son, Friday, Feb. 17, 2006. (AP)
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Gina Jones holds a photo of her slain son, Martin Lee Anderson, 14, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006, during a press conference in Panama City, Fla. (CBS/AP)
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Bay County medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006, in Panama City, Fla., about the death of Martin Lee Anderson, 14, at a state boot camp for delinquents earlier this year. (AP Photo)
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The scenes from the tape outraged the parents of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. His mother said it proved the guards killed her son, despite a medical examiner's ruling that Anderson died from internal bleeding unrelated to the confrontation.
Anderson, who entered the camp on Jan. 5 because of a probation violation, complained of breathing difficulties and collapsed during exercises that were part of the entry process. He died the next day at a Pensacola hospital.
The county sheriff's office, which runs the camp, said Anderson was restrained after he became uncooperative. But the camp also admitted Friday that mistakes were made, CBS News correspondent Jim Acosta reports.
"It is very obvious to us that there are valid concerns raised in some of the procedures that are being used in this particular incident," said Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen.
On the 1-hour, 20-minute tape, which has no sound, as many as nine guards can be seen restraining Anderson. Guards kneed him and wrestled him to the ground, where he was repeatedly struck by one guard, either on his arm or the side of his torso, while he lay still. He was limp throughout most of it and never appeared to offer significant resistance.
"The viewing of this will result in many questions, concerns and accusations," said Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen.Watch CBSNews.com RAW video of Anderson's parents.
Anderson's father said his son didn't provoke the guards.
"He was trying to do what they wanted him to do but they still beat him, kicked, punched him, and the nurse stood around there and didn't do nothing," Robert Anderson said.
Anderson's parents watched the tape at their lawyer's office in Tallahassee as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement made it public.
"Martin didn't deserve this right here. At all," said his mother, Gina Jones. "I couldn't even watch the whole tape. Me, as a mom, I knew my baby was in pain, and I am in pain just watching his pain."
She said she walked out of the lawyer's office when the tape showed guards shoving her son up against a pole.
At the beginning of the tape, the guards are seen pinning Anderson against a pole and striking him three times with their knees. At another point, a guard struck him from behind, lifting his feet off the ground.
A woman in a white coat was present while the guards restrained Anderson and at one point used a stethoscope to check him. Near the end of the confrontation, guards appear to become more concerned and several began running in and out of the scene. A few minutes later, emergency medical personnel arrive and put the boy on a gurney and take him away.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Watch CBSNews.com RAW video of Anderson's parents.


