Posted January 29, 2004 – When a Florida juvenile cried for help because he was experiencing excruciating pain, two nurses ignored his pleas for medical attention of which he later died from a ruptured appendix, a grand jury concluded Tuesday.
A grand jury, which called the incident “tragic” and “preventable,” has charged Gaile Tucker Loperfido and Dianne Marie Demeritte with manslaughter and third-degree murder in the death of Omar Paisley. If the two are convicted of the June 9, 2003 death they could face 30 years in prison.
The grand jury also presented a 50-page report criticizing the Miami-Dade Juvenile Detention Center for a complete “lack of humanity demonstrated” by corrections staff. The probe also revealed a juvenile system that is poorly administered and despairingly underfunded, The Miami Herald reported.
“When a child dies of an easily treatable illness, it's a tragedy. The members of this grand jury agree, and they see it as far more than that. They call it a crime, ” said State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle.
Paisley’s mother, Cherry Williams, told the Herald that the indictments had brought her little comfort and that, “there is nothing to feel happy about, because nothing can bring[Omar] back.”
The grand jury report details the weekend in which Paisley suffered tremendous pain: On Saturday, Loperfido saw Paisley at 2:15 and again on 9 a.m. Sunday; Loperfido created deceptive medical logs and never took the proper medical tools to examine Paisley; on Monday around 5:30 p.m., Terry Mixon, the lone correctional officer overseeing 20 juveniles that day, frantically called for medical attention.
But for an hour and a half, the report says, there was no response until Demeritte “finally made her way” to the cell. She also stated “she had a child at home and did not wish to contaminate her child with Omar's virus.”
The detainees of the correction facility testified that the Demeritte was “laughing” on the phone with her supervisor as she requested an ambulance. The report says at 9:01 p.m. a nurse finally called for paramedics. Paisley would be pronounced dead at 9:43 p.m.
Melvin Black, an attorney for Demeritte, declined to comment while Loperfido's attorney, Richard B. Marx, told the Herald, “We are going to defend this vigorously, and my client is absolutely not guilty
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....Hear Them Scream While They Get Bitten.
