Boy, 12, smothered to death on first day at North Carolina wilderness camp for troubled teens

The tragic death of a 12-year-old boy at a North Carolina wilderness camp for troubled teens has been declared a homicide. The youngster passed away in February, not even a full day after arriving at Trails Carolina.

The private program has now been stripped of its operating license. Trails Carolina previously said the death seemed to be accidental and their staff had attempted CPR when they found the boy unresponsive the following morning.

He was found inside a bivy, a solo tent equipped with an alarm system . An autopsy report that came out on Monday has not been responded to by Trails Carolina, which attributed the death to "asphyxia due to smothering," essentially a lack of oxygen - "in this case due to covering the nose and mouth" with a non-breathable material.

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It was noted by the camp that it was standard practice to put kids in bivvies overnight as a safety measure on arrival. However, the autopsy report highlighted that the inner mesh panel of the boy's bivy was ripped, leading counsellors to seal the outer, weather-proof door panel instead, deviating from the camp's usual procedures.

According to the autopsy findings, bivvies are known to carry warnings against completely sealing the weather-resistant outer layer "as it may lead to condensation and breathing restriction," reports CBS.

The authorities have only referred to the boy by his initials, CJH. No charges have been announced yet. The Transylvania County Sheriff's Office, which has been conducting a criminal investigation into the boy's death, said it is reviewing the autopsy report and will discuss it with the local district attorney.

The asphyxia finding was a "diagnosis of exclusion, meaning all other reasonable causes of death " were ruled out, it said. The boy was "placed into this compromised sleeping position by other(s) and did not have the ability to reasonably remove himself," the report stated.

Meanwhile, the counsellors overseeing him could not check on him due to the bivy's opaque outer panel, preventing them from potentially noticing a problem and helping him before it was too late.

"With this combination of factors, the death is best certified as homicide," the report concluded.

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Before its license was revoked , Trails Carolina in Lake Toxaway catered to youngsters with behavioural issues and conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder .

That evening, the boy was "restless and mumbling in his sleep," stated the medical examiner's report. At one stage, counsellors removed him from his bivy, and he fell asleep, the report continued.

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Later, they roused him to place him back inside. Come morning, the report disclosed, he was discovered unresponsive, cold to the touch with his head at the foot of the bivy.

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