The recent non-guilty verdict of the drill instructor and the nurse charged in the death related beating comes as a surprise to the family of Martin Lee Anderson the victim of this crime comes as a surprise and an outrage.
Just recently, the court in Panama City, Florida had passed a verdict of non-guilty on the seven former boot camp guards that were responsible for the beating and death of a 14-year old African American boy named Martin Lee Anderson. This case has been making headlines throughout the last year throughout the state of Florida. As a result, it caused massive outcry throughout the African American community.
It had caused a shutdown and investigation of all the Juvenile boot camps throughout Florida. As a Florida resident, this incident was one of the major news events that was covered. Many have thought that the seven guards would’ve been found guilty. Martin Lee Anderson was kicked and beaten by the guards repeatedly until he wasn’t breathing anymore. There was even solid evidence of the crime in the form of a recorded tape. The whole incident was recorded and it was shown to a jury and it was broadcast on the evening news.
The evidence of the incident was very apparent. The guards in their defense claim that they were just following the rules at a so-called "get tough" facility to handle the young offenders that feign illnesses to get out of daily exercise. The videotaped recording of the incident very much sheds a light on how these juvenile boot camps are run.
Early on when the incident took place the previous, the defense claimed that Martin Lee Anderson was diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia which tends to be only found in Blacks. In which, they added that Anderson’s death was inevitable as a result. There were two autopsies done on Anderson. The first autopsy concluded that Anderson died of natural causes as a result of the sickle-cell. However, the second autopsy said different concluding that Anderson died of suffocation.
Recently, it was reported that the family was rewarded with a five-million dollar settlement. However, the family of Martin Lee Anderson are very outraged at the non-guilty verdict handed to the guards.
The local news in Florida where I live have announced that the NAACP plans to take action as a result of the non-guilty verdict. It may look as if the NAACP will be busy as they are still dealing with the current incident with the Jena 6.
The jury handing out the verdict was all-white which took less than two hours to come up with the decision according to the report. That may have some racial implications in the future.
The lawyer of Gina Jones, Benjamin Crump said to reporters outside the court: "You kill a dog, you go to jail. You kill a little black boy and nothing happens."