New Autopsy Finds Fla. Teen Was Suffocated

Gina Jones, mother of Martin Lee Anderson, center, speaks at a news conference, Friday, May 5, 2006, in Tallahassee, Fla., regarding the autopsy report on the death of her son at a Bay County boot camp. Also shown are Robert Anderson, father of Martin Lee Anderson, left, and Ben Crump, attorney for the family.(AP Photo/Steve Cannon) (Steve Cannon - AP)

TAMPA, Fla. -- The parents of a 14-year-old boy who was kicked and punched by guards at a juvenile boot camp expressed relief at a second medical examiner's conclusion that their son died because the sheriff's officials suffocated him.

Gina Jones and Robert Anderson said the new autopsy findings vindicated their campaign for a thorough investigation of their son's death. The initial autopsy blamed the death on a usually benign blood disorder.

"All you do bad, the good will come out. And so the truth is out now," Jones said.

No one has been arrested in Martin Anderson's death, which sparked protests at the state Capitol, forced lawmakers to scrap the military-style camps and led to the resignation of the state's top law enforcement officer.

The new autopsy findings were announced Friday as part of an investigation by Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him in February to investigate the death after the teen's family disputed Bay County medical examiner Dr. Charles Siebert's findings. Ober asked Dr. Vernard Adams to do a second autopsy.

"Martin Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due to actions of the guards at the boot camp," Adams wrote in a statement.

He said the suffocation was caused by hands blocking the boy's mouth, as well as the "forced inhalation of ammonia fumes" that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his upper airway. The guards had said in an incident report that they used ammonia capsules to keep Anderson conscious.

The autopsy report draws no conclusions about whether Anderson's death was a homicide or an accident.

"I assure the family of Martin Anderson and the people of the state of Florida that my office is working diligently to aggressively investigate all aspects of this case," Ober said in a statement. He declined to answer questions about Adams' findings.

Bush, however, said, "I am disturbed by Dr. Adams' findings and consider the actions of the Bay County boot camp guards deplorable."

He later said he didn't think he could suspend Siebert because he wasn't sure if the entire autopsy report was finished. But Attorney General Charlie Crist said that Siebert "should probably be suspended pending further review" and that there "probably will be arrests."

Siebert said Friday that he stands by his findings. If Anderson had suffocated, he said, there would have been higher levels of carbon dioxide in the boy's body.