New details in PB Juvenile Detention Center death of Eric Perez, work history of fired staff members

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Contact 5 Investigators have obtained exclusive new details in the death of Eric Perez, the teenager who died behind bars at the Palm Beach Juvenile Detention Center. 

The new information includes what happened in the hours leading up to the teenager’s death and about the staff members who were in charge at the facility.

Hundreds of pages of complaints, investigation files and personnel records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shed new light on Perez’s death on July 10 and the nine people who were fired since his passing.

Investigation reports state Perez showed signs of being confused and sick early that July morning. Staff members moved him to another room to sleep so they could “monitor” him. After vomiting, workers gave him Sprite to drink to calm his stomach. 

No emergency responders were called to the facility. Perez died shortly after 8 that morning.

Personnel records show one of the workers involved, Laryell King, resigned from her previous job at the juvenile detention center in Orange County in 2008.

Records state King was about to be terminated for leaving teens “unsupervised.”

The Contact 5 Investigators obtained a memo written by the man in charge of that facility titled “NO Rehire in any position for Laryell King.”  But she was rehired in West Palm Beach.

In a 2010 work evaluation for fired officer Terrance Davis, a supervisor stated Davis needed to improve on his “lack of awareness” and his ability to “maintain a safety and security mindset while on the job.”

We also discovered close to two dozen complaints have been filed against staff members at the facility over the past two years. Seven of those complaints were found to be credible. They ranged from a staff member giving a teenager the wrong medication to a worker slapping a teen that was in custody.

Records show four people have been fired for wrongdoing and another resigned. A few others are still under investigation. That does not include the nine workers who were fired surrounding Perez’s death.

Eric Perez’s mother has a new attorney and told the Contact 5 Investigators they have no comment on the case until the State Attorney’s Office completes its investigation.

A spokesperson for the facility wouldn’t comment either due to the ongoing investigation. He also would not respond to general questions about hiring policies and procedures.