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Seven former juvenile boot camp guards and a nurse were charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old boy, who was roughed up by the guards during a videotaped altercation. The announcement comes almost 11 months after Martin Lee Anderson collapsed on the exercise yard at the Bay County sheriff's boot camp in Panama City on January 5th. Guards said he was uncooperative and refused to continue participating in exercises that were part of the boot camp's intake processes. He died early the next morning in Pensacola. Bob Pell, an attorney who represents former guard Joseph Walsh, II said he learned of the decision to charge his client from The Associated Press. The death sparked the elimination of the military-style boot camp system and the resignation of the state's top law enforcement officer. An initial autopsy by medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert found Anderson died of complications of sickle cell trait, a usually benign blood disorder. But a second autopsy ruled Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due to the actions of the guards. Siebert has consistently stood by his findings. The nurse charged this week in connection with the death of the teenager at the north Florida boot camp is now out on bond. Kristin Anne Schmidt appeared before a judge Wednesday. Schmidt along with seven former guards was officially charged with aggravated manslaughter Tuesday for the beating death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson. Schmidt was charged for looking on, and doing nothing. An arraignment is scheduled for January 18. All face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. For more information tune to Central Florida News 13. Only on Bright House Networks. Copyright © Central Florida News 13. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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