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Updated: 1:23 PM Jan 7, 2010
Four Years Later: Martin Lee Anderson Boot Camp Death
It was four years ago Wednesday that 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson died in a Pensacola hospital after collapsing at the now defunct Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp.
Posted: 5:45 PM Jan 6, 2010Reporter: Matt de Nesnera Email Address: matthew.denesnera@wjhg.com  4th Anniversary Of Martin Lee Anderson Death |
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17 Comments 
By now, the story of Martin Lee Anderson's death has been well-documented. During his first day at the Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp, Anderson collapsed during a fitness run.
Boot camp drill instructors thought he was faking to get out of the exercise, so they pushed Anderson to complete the run. The camp's cameras recorded an agonizing twenty-minute confrontation, which thrust the case into the worldwide spotlight.
Once the guards realized Anderson was truly in distress, they called for help. But, it was too late. The teen died early the next morning, January 6, 2006, in a Pensacola hospital.
The Medical Examiner's initial autopsy found Anderson died as a result of complications from sickle cell trait. Those results, and the results of a second autopsy conducted several months later, became the central evidence in the criminal trial of seven of the drill instructors and the camp nurse. A year and a half after Anderson's death, they were all acquitted of aggravated manslaughter charges.
Since the trial, Anderson family supporters, including the local NAACP chapter, have continued to push for federal civil rights violation charges against the defendants.
Bay County NAACP president Rev. Rufus Wood said, "I want it to be clear that this is not as much about black and white as it is about right and wrong. This is about right and wrong, and it's about wrong. What happened to Martin was wrong."
The U.S. Attorney's Office will only say that the Anderson case is still under review. But, the attorney for one of the former boot camp guards says he thinks this case is over.
Waylon Graham said, "I think they have figured out that they have the same problem the state did, that the scientific evidence just does not support their case."
Graham also believes NAACP officials need to find closure: "I've got news for them. Justice was served a couple of years ago when the jury found those men not guilty, and it disappoints me that they just will not let this go, they will not let this go."
Things have changed in the four years since Anderson's death. The boot camp has shut down, but one thing remains -- a family's grief for their lost loved one.
Reto Williams visited her grandson Martin's grave site Wednesday. She says the family is still mourning his loss, and they too believe those involved in the now infamous incident should face more charges.
Martin Lee Anderson would have turned 19 on January 15.
Latest Comments
TO HELGA: the only one stupid was the people responsible for raising the kid. they failed him from the begining. they failed him by not informing the gaurds that he had sickle cell trait, That would have stopped him from entering the boot camp. also they failed him when he was a THUG on the streets. He stole his grandmothers car to go to Kmart to steal CD's thats why he was taken to the boot camp to begin with. This was not the 1st time he had been in trouble with the law either. No the Thug did not deserve to die but he was alive and breathing when he left the boot camp, I have never known a hospital to airlift a deadbody to another hospital. This whole situation has ruined the lives of the guards and hte nurse, and his non present mom and dad became millionaires at the expense of the taxpayers. No one wants to ask why the parents lied on the paperwork. The rules were not followed. It needs to be let go and let the thug RIP. If he was white, would it get this much attention? I doubt it
I am tired of hearing about this.... His mother did not do her part. When the grandmother called her and told her she had to pick her son she couldn't deal with him anymore that's when Gina tried to take him to the boot camp EARLY-that's when she filled out the paper work.. So eager to get rid of him she caused his death. They still didn't take him early. That's why Bush backed out of the payout when this came to light and the sign form from the hospital that she was notified when he was born of sickle cell. But then Crist got in and was trying to when brownie points..
The only truly innocent one in this whole disgusting saga is the young punk's grandmother who tried her best to raise him. Remember, the parents were scumbags. The kid was a criminal. Even the grandmother knew this punk wouldn't change. Instead of that nice photo of Martin Lee Anderson on his tombstone, why not put one of his many mug shots? Those represented who he was more than anything else.
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