Death of restrained boy ruled homicide at Daystar in Manvel | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Death of restrained boy ruled homicide at Daystar in Manvel | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle



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Homicide ruled in 4th death at troubled kids' facility
Boy, 16, asphyxiated in November after being restrained inside a closet
By TERRI LANGFORD
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 7, 2011, 6:07AM
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The restraint death of a 16-year-old boy at Daystar Residential Inc., a facility for troubled children, has been ruled a homicide caused by "complications of mechanical asphyxia," according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science.
Michael Kevin Owens suffocated and died on Nov. 5 after a Daystar staffer placed him in a physical restraint inside a bedroom closet because he would not show the staffer what he held in his hand. Owens' death was the fourth restraint-related fatality to occur at Daystar or its sister facilities. Daystar is located 25 miles south of Houston.
The name of the staffer has not been released, and the case will go before a grand jury to determine whether criminal charges will be filed, according to Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne.
Owens' death occurred just days after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services notified Daystar that it was on probation, and the incident prompted the agency to place the Manvel-based facility, for the third time, under the watch of a state monitor.
The agency is reviewing the autopsy report, which was issued to them late Thursday.
"We have been going through a very deliberate process of evaluating Daystar's state license, and this ruling is an important piece," said Patrick Crimmins, DFPS' spokesman.
Earlier this summer the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune reported that Daystar staffers had once urged developmentally disabled girls to fight one another for a snack. The 2008 incident was one of 250 confirmed abuse cases involving Daystar and 79 other residential treatment centers.
Since that report, the state agency has not moved any new foster care children into Daystar. After Owens' death, DFPS officials began relocating Texas children from Daystar because of its probation status. The last Texas foster care child was removed from Daystar on Wednesday. Five other foster care children — all from California - remain there.
Use of restraints cited
Last month, the agency issued its first report since Owens' death. In it, the state monitor raised questions over the repeated use of restraints during the same behavior incident. Daystar, wrote monitor Jeff Enzinna, releases children after two minutes of being restrained to give them a chance to regain control. But if a child continues to behave poorly, the staffer restrains the child again.
In November, 14 restraints were reported at Daystar, occurring during seven separate incidents.
One child was restrained four times during an 11-minute period. Another was restrained four times in a 15-minute period.
"If these children had not been released after 2 minutes but were held until calm as DFPS regulations allow, the number of restraints would have decreased by 50 percent," wrote Enzinna.
Daystar attorney John Carsey did not immediately return a Houston Chronicle phone call asking for comment.
terri.langford@chron.com