The family of a 16-year-old boy who was restrained at a shuttered western Michigan youth center and died two days later of cardiac arrest has settled a second wrongful death lawsuit in the case. The settlement between the family of Cornelius Fredricks and Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo was approved Dec. 29 by Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Alexander Lipsey.
Fredericks died after he was restrained for 10 minutes at the center on April 29, 2020. The academy subsequently lost its contract to care for youth in the state’s foster care and juvenile justice systems and had its license to operate suspended. The Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death was a homicide.