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Key Players In Martin Lee Anderson Case
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Published: October 2, 2007
Boot Camp Trial Special Report
Martin Lee Anderson: Bay County student
14-year-old Bay County honor student and basketball player
After a joyriding in his grandmother's car with several relatives, a trip that ended in a wreck, Anderson was sentenced to probation. He later violated that probation by trespassing at a school. Anderson was sentenced to a youth boot camp in Panama City. On Jan. 5, 2006, after just two hours at the camp, he collapsed during a run after performing calisthenics. Several drill instructors and a nurse tried to determine if Anderson was faking fatigue. After about 30 minutes of discipline, he was transported to a Pensacola hospital where he was pronounced dead early the next morning.
Henry Dickens: Drill instructor
Dickens began working for the boot camp in 1995 after retiring from the Navy as a command master chief. He poured water over Anderson's head and later used a pressure point on Anderson's left ear, according to a Bay County Sheriff's Office report.
Charles Enfinger: Drill instructor
Enfinger began working for the boot camp in 2003 after working as a mechanic. He was one of the first drill instructors to respond when Anderson stopped participating in exercises. He and Joseph Walsh II placed Anderson against a fence then on the ground. The sheriff's report states that Enfinger punched Anderson's right arm.
Patrick Garrett: Drill instructor
Garrett joined the boot camp in 2000 after leaving the Army in 1999. He wrote the sheriff's office report and stated that he struck Anderson's left thigh with his knees, bent his wrist back, poured water on him and forced him to the ground twice.
Raymond Hauck: Drill instructor
Hauck began work at the boot camp in 1994 after working as a civilian driver for the Air Force. As a senior drill instructor, Hauck approved Garrett's report. Twice, Hauck used ammonia capsules on Anderson.
Charles Helms Jr.: Drill instructor
Helms was hired by the boot camp in 1994 after retiring from the Army in 1993. He was a lieutenant and second-in-command at the camp. He came to the scene near the end of the 30-minute encounter and administered ammonia. Anderson fell to his knees and Helms rolled him on his back. Helms told ABC's "20/20" that the drill instructors thought Anderson was faking but rushed to help when they realized he was in trouble.
Henry McFadden Jr.: Drill instructor
McFadden attended Brandon High School and had spent 10 years in the Air Force before becoming a drill instructor at the boot camp in 2004. He got involved with the altercation about half-way through. McFadden bent back Anderson's wrist for about three seconds.
Joseph Walsh II: Drill instructor
Walsh was hired by the boot camp in 2002 after serving about 10 years in the Air Force. With Enfinger, he was one of the first drill instructors to begin the altercation with Anderson. He punched Anderson's forearm once and used ammonia capsules on him twice.
Kristen Schmidt: Nurse
Schmidt worked at the camp since 1994. She had consistently good reviews from her superiors. As the drill instructors were disciplining Anderson, Schmidt could be seen on a surveillance videotape standing nearby and watching with her hands on her hips. Occasionally, she walked up to check Anderson briefly, then stepped back again. The report states that she told the drill instructors to call 911 after the altercation.
Charles Siebert: Bay County medical examiner
On Feb. 16, 2006, Siebert performed an autopsy that concluded Anderson died from complications of sickle-cell trait, a generally benign genetic disorder. A day later, a surveillance videotape was made public that showed the drill instructors punching and kicking Anderson for about 30 minutes. The videotape made national news. Public outrage at Siebert's diagnosis caused the Bay County state attorney to step aside from the investigation. Then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober to lead the investigation. Later, the Medical Examiner Review Board called for Siebert's ouster, based in part on negligence in his handling of Anderson's case. Siebert remains the interim medical examiner of Bay County as a search for his replacement continues. At least three other medical examiners have supported Siebert's ruling that sickle-cell trait may have contributed to Anderson's death. Several others doubt his results.
Vernard Adams: Hillsborough County medical examiner
At the request of Ober, Anderson's body was exhumed for a second autopsy. Adams concluded that the blood samples tested by Siebert were taken after Anderson's death. The blood cells sickled – or twisted into a crescent shape – at the moment Anderson died, Adams determined. Blood taken while Anderson was in an ambulance showed no signs of sickling, Adams determined. Instead, Adams said, Anderson suffocated after the drill instructors covered his mouth while putting ammonia capsules in his nose. The ammonia irritated the tissue in Anderson's airway, Adams determined.
Gina Jones and Robert Anderson: Martin Anderson's parents
The parents never believed that their son died from sickle cell trait. Almost immediately after his death, they called for the arrest of the seven drill instructors who disciplined their son and the nurse who stood by watching. They filed a $40 million wrongful death suit and later settled for a $5 million state payout and a $2.4 million payout from Bay County.
On Nov. 28, 2006, nearly a year after Anderson's death, the seven drill instructors and the nurse were charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. Each faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. All are released on $25,000 bail pending the results of the trial. Trial testimony begins Wednesday.
Source: Associated Press, Bay County Sheriff's Office, The Tampa Tribune archives
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