Parents settle wrongful death suit

PHOENIX -- The parents of a 14-year-old boy who died last summer at a boot camp for troubled youngsters have settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the camp and its operators, the boy's parents said Wednesday.

Anthony Haynes died July 1 of complications of dehydration and near-drowning after he collapsed in triple-digit heat and two counselors put him in a bathtub to cool down.

The boot camp near Phoenix was shut down after the teen's death.

"Justice is justice, no matter what form it comes in, but there is nothing on earth that will bring my son back and nothing that will ease the pain," Anthony's father, Gettis Haynes, said from his home in Hannibal, Mo.

Haynes would not discuss the terms of the settlement.

The lawsuit named the boot camp, its director, Charles F. Long II, and other staff and counselors as defendants

Long, reached at his home Wednesday, declined to comment and referred questions to his attorney, David Davis. The lawyer did not immediately return messages left Wednesday.

No specific amount

The lawsuit didn't ask for a specific amount of money but asked that it cover medical and funeral expenses plus compensation for a long list of suffering, including "sorrow, distress, anguish, anxiety, mental, pain, shock, loss of love, great decrease in quality of life."

Long pleaded innocent last month to a second-degree murder charge filed in Anthony's death.

He was released on $100,000 bond.

As part of a plea agreement, one of the counselors, Troy A. Hutty, will be sentenced to probation on a negligent homicide charge in return for telling prosecutors what he knows about Long. Hutty was originally charged with manslaughter.

Two other boot camp staffers also were arrested. Ray Anderson, 39, was charged with child abuse for allegedly spanking, stomping, beating and whipping more than 14 children.

A 17-year-old counselor was charged with child abuse.

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