Coroner: Girl At Treatment Center Suffocated

CLEVELAND—A disruptive girl who died last month while being restrained by staff members at a church-run treatment center suffocated and choked, the coroner said Monday in ruling the death a homicide.

Faith Finley, 17, of Barberton, died Dec. 13 while restrained by staff members of Parmadale Family Services.

Police records showed that a Parmadale staff member told an emergency operator that the teenager was unresponsive and had shallow breathing. A second staff member then called 911 and said another staffer was giving the girl CPR.

The residential center in Parma is run by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Cleveland and treats youngsters with behavior, developmental and drug problems.

Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank P. Miller said the girl suffocated while restrained and choked when she inhaled her vomit. The ruling of homicide, or death at the hands of another individual, wasn’t meant to imply anything sinister, the coroner said.

Miller turned the case over to Parma police, who are still investigating, according to Detective Marty Compton. Any findings will be discussed with the prosecutor’s office, he said.

Catholic Charities said it was cooperating with the investigation and would let the legal process move forward. “We continue our prayers and support for the young woman and her family,“ Catholic Charities CEO J. Thomas Mullen said in a statement.

The teen’s mother, Antoinette Finley, said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling. She added that authorities ought to look closer at Parmadale’s training and procedures.

Faith Finley had been at the center for several months. Antoinette Finley said last month that her daughter had earlier broken a leg at Parmadale while jumping out a window trying to sneak out to a party.

She told WJW-TV that she was seeking help for her daughter when she placed her in county custody because of unruly behavior. “We sought help, that’s what we were seeking, was support and help and what we got was this, my dead child,“ she said.

After the death, Summit County removed from Parmadale the one dozen or so youngsters sent there by the county.

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