Counselors get probation for role in teen’s death at a now-closed Michigan youth home

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Two former youth counselors charged in the death of a teenager more than three years ago who was restrained at a Michigan youth home have been sentenced to 18 months on probation.

Michael Mosley, 50, and Zachary Solis, 30, both of Battle Creek, pleaded no contest in March to involuntary manslaughter in the May 1, 2020, death of 16-year-old Cornelius Fredericks at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo. Two counts of second-degree child abuse were dropped.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such at sentencing.

Fredericks, 16, died two days after he lost consciousness while being restrained by staff at Lakeside. Prosecutors said at the time that he was being restrained for throwing a sandwich.

The restraint resulted in Fredericks losing consciousness due to a lack of blood flow and oxygen, authorities said. He never regained consciousness, and died of a heart attack May 1, 2020, at a Kalamazoo hospital. The Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide.

A third defendant in the case, Heather Newton McLogan, 51, the former director of nursing at Lakeside, was sentenced to 18 months probation in September 2021.

Lakeside, now closed, was a facility for teens with behavioral problems.