SOUTHFIELD (WXYZ) — Jami Vaughn still can't bring herself to watch surveillance video that shows her 10-year-old son being assaulted at The Hawthorn Center, located inside the Walter P. Reuther Psychiatric Hospital in Westland.
Vaughn said her son suffered brain damage and psychological trauma during the assault that workers at the state-run facility allegedly took part in and instigated.
"He could have been killed," Vaughn said.
Vaughn's attorney, Arnold Reed, filed a $100 million lawsuit against five workers who either participated in stepping on the boy's fingers when he reached under a door or instigated an attack by another patient, a 15-year-old girl.
Moments before he played the surveillance video for reporters at a press conference Thursday, Reed said, "You will see them laughing and jeering this on. They wanted a fight. They instigated a fight. So now, they're going to get one."
The video begins with several workers kicking and stepping the bottom area of a door where Reed said Vaughn's son was sticking his fingers. A young girl, age 15, then enters the camera field and she walks past the adults to do the same thing they had been doing.
The video then shows one of the workers, who Reed describes as the main instigator, walk to the area where Vaughn's son is and say something to him. The boy responds by putting his fists up in the air as if he's then expecting something to happen with the girl on the other side of the door.
As soon as the door is unlocked, the girl, who is larger than Vaughn's son, pushes through and begins to chase the boy.
The female worker who apparently allowed the door to be unlocked does not react to the girl chasing the boy as if it's what she anticipated. She calmly continues to chat with other staffers as the boy runs into another room in an attempt to get away from the girl.
Vaughn's son is stopped by another locked door and he falls to the ground as the girl catches up to him and begins to repeatedly stomp on his head.
After she stomps on his head about nine times, another worker, who was not present in the video until then, rushes the 15-year-old girl and pulls her away from the boy.
Vaughn's son shows clear signs of distress as he tries to stand up but falls down, unable to steady himself.
The worker who unlocked the door doesn't seem to even take notice of the boy on the floor and she walks away with the other worker who has secured the girl.
“I’ve had a lot of cases in the last 30 years that involved heinous facts. I have never seen anything like this in my life," said Reed, describing the entire set of events as "brutal."
Reed said he credits the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for conducting an internal investigation but questions why no one has been arrested and the facility is allowed to continue to operate.
"I will not turn a blind eye and every person responsible will be held accountable," Reed said.
Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for MDHHS, released the following statement:
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services takes the health and safety of our patients very seriously. An investigation involving an incident on Oct. 18, 2023, was completed by the State Hospital Administration and Office of Recipient Rights. As a result, one employee was dismissed, one resigned before they could be dismissed, and another was suspended.
Michigan State Police 1st Lt. Michael Shaw said their criminal case remains open and detectives are continuing to investigate.
