The Department of Juvenile Justice announced it has fired the superintendent and assistant superintendent of a detention center where a teen died earlier this year, and will soon fire four other agency employees in connection with the case.
The six worked at the Palm Beach Juvenile Detention Center where 18-year-old Eric Perez died on July 10, after asking adults at the facility for help and not receiving any. The statement from DJJ said the employees violated agency rules.
“We will not tolerate employees who violate policies and procedures that are in place to protect the health and welfare of our youth,” DJJ Secretary Wansley Walters said in the statement. “DJJ employees have since been retrained on policies and procedures for the appropriate management of youth in our detention facilities.
“In the long term, we remain committed to implementing meaningful reforms that comprehensively improve how we serve the youth in our care and all our stakeholders,” Walters said.
Superintendent Anthony Flowers and Assistant Superintendent Patricia Hammond were fired Tuesday, the agency said. Both are exempt from job protections for certain state workers, and they have no right to appeal. Four other employees, all juvenile detention officers at the facility, who are also targeted for termination can appeal. They are: Marlon Jarrell; Christian Lewis; Alberto Rios and Darrell Smith. Two other employees had already been fired.
Officials at DJJ have previously said that agency employees didn’t call for help for Perez even after he spent several hours complaining of pain.
Walters said Broward Juvenile Detention Center Superintendent Daryl Wolf, and Kevin Housel, superintendent of a detention center in St. Lucie County, will share oversight of the Palm Beach County facility until a new superintendent is named.
Walters also said the agency continues to cooperate with state prosecutors and the West Palm Beach Police, who continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Perez’ death.
By David Royse
