Sad But True
College at 16 to Jailhouse at 17
Sad but true.
At only 17 years old, Keenan went from attending college to being incarcerated as an adult. He was not old enough to vote, purchase tobacco products, or independently authorize his own medical and dental treatment.
At the beginning of November, Keenan was expelled from college. He was later incarcerated in one of St. Louis’s most notorious jails: the St. Louis Medium Security Institution on Hall Street, commonly known as the Workhouse or the Thunder-Dome.
Assaulted Inside the Workhouse
The Workhouse made communication with our loved one extremely difficult, but I did everything possible to keep a close eye on him.
During a visit on Saturday, February 2, I saw that Keenan’s left eye was blackened. There was dried blood inside his left nostril, several knots on his head, and scrapes across his nose.
Keenan told me that a 20-year-old white male, who was larger than him, knocked him unconscious.
Two inmates who witnessed the assault told Keenan that after he was unconscious, the attacker punched him at least five more times. That would explain the knots across his head.
Keenan attempted to hide his injuries from the guards because, inside jail, inmates are taught that snitches get stitches.
After our visit, I learned that the same individual was allegedly planning another attack. I reported the danger to both a female guard and a male guard. Both appeared genuinely concerned for Keenan’s safety, especially because of his age.
The guards acted discreetly and placed him in protective custody.
I called the jail daily and left repeated messages requesting that Keenan receive X-rays and medical attention. Those calls were a waste of time. They were ignored, and not one person returned them.
Threatened by a Jail Lieutenant
A few weeks earlier, Keenan told me that a lieutenant grabbed him by and around his larynx. He said the lieutenant then took him into a closed section of the jail that was no longer being used and threatened to have his face broken.
Keenan told me that his throat remained sore for several days afterward.
For Keenan’s safety and welfare, I will not identify the alleged perpetrator at this time.
Transferred to the St. Louis County Jail
Keenan was released from the Workhouse sometime after court, either yesterday or today. As of February 13, the three city charges reached final disposition. He received five years of probation with a suspended imposition of sentence.
Keenan was then held at the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton, Missouri, regarding another charge that allegedly occurred in St. Louis County.
I hope Keenan accepts full responsibility for his immature and wrongful actions.
He also had two misdemeanor cases pending in Hazelwood, Missouri. Hopefully, this entire experience becomes his wake-up call.
I strongly believe, along with other family members and friends, that surviving the Workhouse should have forced Keenan to mature and move forward instead of continuing to regress.
I have spoken with other young people who were incarcerated in the Workhouse. Some told me:
Never again.
For them, the experience became a true wake-up call, and they never returned to the criminal-justice system.
The Charges
Keenan originally faced three felony charges. One was dropped, leaving two felonies and three misdemeanors.
One of those misdemeanor laws is deeply controversial and has destroyed families across this country. In my opinion, that law should not exist.
Hazelwood Night Court
Thursday, February 7, 2013
At a night court held inside an abandoned shopping-village strip mall in Hazelwood, Missouri, a judge was informed that Keenan was already incarcerated.
Despite knowing that, she told Keenan’s father that she would issue a warrant and have him tracked down by police for allegedly possessing a very small amount of marijuana in October 2012.
The court date was later rescheduled for Thursday, April 4, 2013.
This judge had a son of her own, yet she showed no mercy toward our family.
A woman in a black robe, wearing a pretty smile, can still carry a black and charcoal heart.
Did Missouri’s Division of Youth Services Help?
Was Missouri’s Division of Youth Services really helping this troubled young man?
In Keenan’s case, the system neglected a broken hand.
Keenan struggled with depression, yet every state agency seemed to miss it, dismiss it, or simply ignore it.
State workers claimed to be professionals, but too often they appeared to follow textbook rules written by people more concerned with money and bureaucracy than human lives.
Read my words carefully: Keenan still needed grief counseling, yet government agency after government agency continued depriving him of that help.
America has lost its heart and soul to greed.
We are not merely subjects of government systems. We are sovereign people residing in the State of Missouri.
Update — February 16, 2013
Thanks to a county police officer with a good heart, Keenan was released at approximately 2:00 a.m. this morning.
It also appeared that Keenan would not be charged with the county felony.
I am not a writer.
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