Suspensions, but no firings after local teen's death in juvenile detention

Robert Wright was found dead in his cell at the Circleville Juvenile Correction Facility in August 2020, and Wednesday marked what is likely that last actions the Department of Youth Service will take following his death.

According to a DYS investigation, corrections officers were sleeping on the job and failing to conduct rounds the night the 17-year-old died. Staff was slow to respond and summoned medical attention once they found him unresponsive, and few if any had been certified in CPR that year.

Wednesday, about 10 and a half months since Robert's death, DYS announced six staff – two operations managers, three juvenile corrections officers and a nurse – would be disciplined.

Two of the corrections officer received five-day unpaid suspensions, the maximum discipline possible short of termination. The operations managers and remaining staff were given "working suspensions," which appear on their records as suspensions, but result in no loss of pay.

No one who was found to have violated policies in the facility that day was fired.

"It was a slap in the face. It was an insult," said Robert's mother, Consandra Wright, who learned about the disciplinary actions Tuesday.

This April, DYS announced a series of reforms in the medical section and pharmacy sections including removing the medical director and canceling the contract of the Circleville physician. Other oversight positions were created and a new system to manage prescription medications was created.

Five months after Robert's death, his family learned he had a small amount of amphetamine in his blood, but that congenital cardiovascular disease also contributed to his death. Neither the Ohio State Highway Patrol or DYS were able to determine where the drug came from.

Robert had also complained frequently of chest pain, but it remains unclear if he was ever able to see a doctor in person or have any diagnostic tests performed.

DYS refuses to discuss any possible failings in Robert's medical care or any failing of the medical care in Circleville in general.

"While a thorough investigation found no conclusive evidence that anything our staff did or did not do led to this youth's passing, the lapses in our policies and procedures...are simply unacceptable," DYS Director Ryan Gies told the press Wednesday.

Several teens who lived alongside Robert at the facility said they believed staff did not take his medical complaints seriously.

Gies has repeated said that the investigation only revealed "areas of improvement" in the medical section.

There will be no further action in connection with Robert's death other than the ongoing changes that started in April, Gies said Wednesday. Assistant Director Julie Walburn said the operations managers were the highest level of facility staff who would be disciplined.

"There was no reason to believe there wasn't adequate facility leadership," Walburn said called Wright's death an "isolated incident."

Consandra Wright said she intends to keep fighting for justice for her son. She said she's received messages from many other families who have had children die or get injured in detention facilities, but felt like going up against the system was too big a task.

"I'm not giving up," she said.

In addition to the disciplinary announcement, DYS also released a 20-minute surveillance video from the morning Robert was discovered.

After watching the footage, Consandra Wright said the lack of response by staff was unsettling. She said it took several minutes before anyone even entered the room or turned on a light.

"There was no sense of urgency ... no emotion," she said. "It's like they have no soul whatsoever."