RED WING, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Corrections determined that the Red Wing youth correctional facility violated four standards around the time a 16-year-old resident died by suicide in October.

The Department of Corrections investigation, completed in January, found that the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Red Wing failed to complete well-being checks in a timely matter, had no documentation to account for the 16-year-old’s location and did not seek permission to administer medication to the minor.

Additionally, the DOC found that a staff member working that day was supposed to be terminated in 2023 due to not cooperating with background study requirements.

The 16-year-old from Shakopee died by suicide on Oct. 19, according to the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.

According to the death review investigation, the facility conducted the required well-being checks on the resident every 30 minutes from 9:53 p.m. Oct. 18 through 2:13 a.m. Oct. 19.

However, camera footage revealed that the checks lasted approximately one second, “which does not allow a reasonable person to ensure the safety and well-being of residents,” the review said. As a corrective action, the DOC ordered that the facility retrain its employees on well-being check requirements.

The review also found that the 16-year-old was not accounted for from approximately 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 18. The facility was required to submit a plan identifying how staff would ensure that residents are accounted for at all times.

The review also discovered that on Oct. 18, staff did not have documented attempts to seek permission from the minor’s parents or guardian to administer medication.

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