The death of 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen in a Kentucky detention center at the top of the year angered many as details of the girl’s passing became public. Officials say that McMillen, who was found dead in her cell on Jan. 11, died while sleeping from an irregular heartbeat and not from earlier reports of an altercation with facility staff, BuzzFeed reports.
McMillen was arrested by Shelbyville Police on Jan. 10 after being involved in a fight with her mother and was sent to the Lincoln Juvenile Treatment and Detention Center in Elizabethtown. What has been consistently reported was that McMillen was restrained via a so-called “martial hold” according to documents, this after she failed to comply to a pat down and search. But after looking at the logs and surveillance video, state officials have stepped away from calling foul play.
BuzzFeed reports:
McMillen was put into a restraint at Lincoln Village after she refused a routine pat down at the center. Throughout the night, however, staff members failed to complete the required 15-minute checks on McMillen as she slept. She was discovered dead the next morning.
But the state’s review of McMillen’s autopsy report, which included roughly 60 hours of video surveillance and interviews with staff and police witnesses, found “no trauma or injury or asphyxiation contributed to her death,” said John Tilley, the state’s secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.
“This child sadly died in her sleep from an irregular heartbeat,” he added.
Kentucky State Medical Examiner Donna Stewart, who conducted the autopsy, said tests performed by the Mayo Clinic found McMillen suffered from a rare genetic condition called inherited long QT syndrome, which causes sudden rapid heartbeats. The condition does not always show symptoms.
Stewart added that she did not find any trauma or bruises on McMillen’s body but did say some cuts and bruises and bite marks were found. The bite marks occurred before her encounter with the detention center’s staff.
Tilley did make mention of the rampant instances of employee misconduct at the facility, which led to the firing of Reginald Windham after an extensive Buzzfeed report.
Kentucky State Police say they’ve conducted an independent investigation of McMillen’s death and will present their findings to the Hardin County Grand Jury at a later time.
SOURCE: BuzzFeed | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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Detention Center Employee Connected To Black Kentucky Teen’s Death Fired
Gynnya McMillen Died In Cell Of Irregular Heartbeat, Officials Say was originally published on newsone.com
