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Death of Calvin Champion, Jr
"Nobody has any answers."
--Calvin Champion Sr., whose
son died after being pepper-sprayed and restrained by police at a Nashville
shopping center on April 30, 2000
2001
September 26: Similarities Surround Deaths of Watkins and
Champion
November 1: After Three Men Die, State Gives
Provider The Boot
2000
May 2: Autistic Man
Dies After Police Intervention
May 4: Death Of
Autistic Man Questioned
May 5: Autistic Man's Death
Brings Call For Training
May 23: Police Hire
Consultant To Restore Public Confidence
June 1: Champion's Death Ruled "Accidental"
Autistic Man Dies After Police
Intervention
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 2,
2000
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE --Calvin Champion, 32, went to a local
Nashville store with his "daycare" provider Sunday afternoon. For some reason,
Champion, who had autism and difficulty communicating verbally, got into a
confrontation with the provider, who then locked herself and her child in her
van.
A Metro Police spokesperson yesterday claimed that when officers arrived on the scene, they tried to "bring him under control accordingly, given the resistance and strength this individual was exhibiting".
Police said that when Champion tried to choke one officer, she and another officer blasted his face with pepper spray. Champion then began vomiting. He died later the same day.
An autopsy yesterday was unable to determine the cause of Champion's death, but more conclusive results should be available within three weeks, according to the medical examiner.
Officials from the state Department of Mental Health, which oversees the program that served Champion, said that they will be launching their own investigation into the case, as will the police.
Death Of Autistic Man Questioned
By Dave
Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 4, 2000
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE --
Even as more details were released regarding the Sunday afternoon death of
Calvin Champion Jr. in a Nashville department store parking lot, those who knew
him are puzzled as to how and why it could have happened.
"Nobody has any answers," his father told Nashville Tennessean of his son, who had autism and mental retardation.
Questions remain as to why Champion's care provider, who had her three-year-old child with her, put Champion outside her van, and then called police, and why she refrained from informing police that he had autism and difficulty communicating until after his death.
Authorities are also trying to determine why police pepper-sprayed Champion twice, hand-cuffed him, tied his ankles together and left the overweight man face-down on the pavement until he began vomiting. Champion lost consciousness at the scene and was declared dead when he arrived at a nearby hospital.
More details are available from yesterday's Tennessean:
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/05/03/champion03.shtml
Autistic Man's Death Brings Call For
Training
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 5,
2000
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE -- Nashville Metro Police trainees receive
four hours of in-service training on mental illness, which does not focus on
mental retardation and does not even mention autism.
The lack of training may have been one of several factors that contributed to the death of Calvin Champion Jr. this past Sunday.
Champion, who had autism, was pepper-sprayed, hand-cuffed, tied at the ankles, and left on his stomach by police, after they responded to what there were told was a "domestic disturbance" between him and his care provider. The overweight man became unconscious and died later that day.
The area has a trained Crisis Response Team, but it wasn't called in during the incident because the care provider did not know Champion's last name and did not inform police that the man had autism, until after he had died. Dealing with people who have autism is a relatively new challenge for law enforcement in Nashville and across the country because more are living outside of institutions.
More on this tragic story from today's Nashville Tennessean:
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/05/05/champion05.shtml
Police Hire Consultant To Restore Public
Confidence
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 23,
2000
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE -- The Nashville Police Department has hired a
Washington, DC firm to help it "restore public confidence" and "repair
relations with minorities".
Since March 30, three civilians have been shot to death by police.
On April 30, Calvin Champion, 32, died after an altercation with police in a Nashville parking lot. Champion, who had autism, was pepper-sprayed repeatedly in the face, then handcuffed and left lying on the pavement on his stomach with his ankles tied together.
The consulting firm has already started interviewing police officers, citizens and minority groups to get their input into the department's problems and possible solutions.
Champion's Death Ruled "Accidental"
By
Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
June 1, 2000
NASHVILLE,
TENNESSEE--Late last week, a medical examiner defended Metro Police after he
determined that the death of Calvin Champion, a man with autism who was
restrained on his stomach during an altercation with police, was an accident.
Police had been criticized for their handling of the incident that ended with Champion's death.
"People are restrained in this position every day," said Metro Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Levy. "We didn't see anything obviously incorrect in the police procedure."
Levy explained that Champion's death was caused in part because he had breathed in some of his own vomit and because the weight on his chest restricted his breathing. But neither of those would have caused his death alone, he said, if it weren't for a rare heart condition. An autopsy revealed that one of Champion's coronary arteries was bent at a sharp angle, thereby restricting blood-flow to his heart.
Since the April 30 incident, the state has suspended new admissions to Outlook Nashville, an agency that operates 40 group homes in the area, until it improves staff training and conditions at five of its homes. The agency provided housing for Champion, 32, and employed the caregiver who was responsible for his supervision that day.
Outlook has been scrutinized because the caregiver did not know Champion's name and failed to inform police that he had autism until after the death, and because she had her 3-year-old son with her at the time.
The caregiver, who has not yet been identified, called police from inside her van at a local shopping center parking lot, claiming that Champion had assaulted her. Champion reportedly tried to attack the first patrol officer on the scene, who responded by pepper-spraying him and then running into a nearby store.
Other officers arrived, subdued Champion on his stomach, handcuffed him, and tied his ankles together to keep him from kicking.
Police called emergency personnel when they found a weakened pulse after Champion began vomiting. He died at a nearby hospital.
Champion's family members are puzzled as to what caused him to become "out of control" at the store, but are certain it would not have happened if the caregiver had known him better and if police had reacted differently.
"It could have been avoided with better communication," Champion's sister, Jetonne Champion-Collins told the Nashville Tennessean.
"My brother was absolutely harmless. He was very gentle, ... a very loving individual."
Similarities Surround Deaths of Watkins and
Champion
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
September 26,
2001
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE--The circumstances around the recent death of a
Bolivar, Tennessee man with mental retardation bear an eerie resemblance to
those surrounding the death of a young man with autism who died after being
pepper-sprayed and restrained by Nashville Police last year.
On September 13, Ricky Willie Watkins, 42, was on his way back to his group home from an outing when he became agitated, according to his caregiver who was driving.
The caregiver then pulled up to the city's Criminal Justice Center where several Memphis police officers were standing outside.
When Watkins got out of the vehicle and ran, the officers chased him down. They caught up with Watkins, then sprayed pepper spray in his face, and handcuffed him with his hands behind his back. Watkins, who had asthma, stopped breathing after inhaling his vomit. Medical personnel were not able to resuscitate him.
A Shelby County medical examiner has ruled Watkins' death an accident.
On April 30, 2000, Calvin Champion Jr., 32, was at a Nashville shopping center when he and his care provider got into a confrontation. The care provider, who did not know Champion's full name, locked herself and her 3-year-old child in her van and used a cell phone to call Nashville Police.
When officers arrived on the scene, they tried to control Champion, who had autism and difficulty communicating. Champion reportedly tried to attack the first patrol officer on the scene, who responded by pepper-spraying him in the face and then running into a nearby store. Other officers arrived and also pepper-sprayed Champion, then restrained him on his stomach, handcuffed him, and tied his ankles together to keep him from kicking.
Champion breathed in some of his own vomit, stopped breathing, and died a short time later at a local hospital.
The Nashville Metro medical examiner said Champion died from inhaling his own vomit and because the weight on his chest restricted his breathing. Champion's death was ruled an accident, however, in part because he had a rare heart condition that contributed to his own death.
Watkins' death this month is the second time this summer that a resident of a Memphis group home for people with mental retardation has died at the hands of those who were supposed to protect them.
On June 4, Jonathan Mikesell, 34, who had mental retardation died under similar circumstances after being restrained in a car by a care provider.
Both Watkins and Mikesell were former residents of the Nat T. Winston Developmental Center, an institution that closed when its residents were moved into community settings in the late 1990s.
The incidents this year underscore the results of a federal investigation into Tennessee's community-based services, which documented ''numerous incidents of physical, verbal and sexual abuse, neglect and financial exploitation'' of residents in the state's community-based programs.
The state has until October 15 to come up with a corrective plan, or risk losing more much-needed funds for community services.
Related resources:
From the September 25, 2001 Nashville
Tennessean:
"Death of second disabled man puts pressure on state,
homes"
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/01/08/08903346.shtml
From the August 3, 2001 Nashville Tennessean:
"Abuse of disabled
found in community-based homes"
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/01/04/07186005.shtml
After Three Men Die, State Gives Provider The
Boot
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 1,
2001
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE--Following a recent series of deaths of men with
mental retardation in Tennessee, the federal government is threatening to cut
off funds if improvements are not made immediately.
Since June of this year, three men have died in choking incidents. One died while being restrained in a car by a service provider. Another stopped breathing after police handcuffed and restrained him. A third choked to death earlier this month when food blocked his airway.
All three men lived in Memphis and were served through the same agency, Independent Opportunities Inc. The state's contract with that program is being terminated, according to Barbara Brent, deputy state commissioner for mental retardation services.
The article below mentions the tragic case of Calvin Champion, a young man with autism who died after being pepper sprayed and restrained by police at a Nashville shopping center in April 2000.
Related article:
"Feds put program on notice after 3 deaths in
state care" (Nashville Tennessean)
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/01/08/10067001.shtml
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