Court hears boot camp testimony

The teenager's death led to the closure of such boot camps in Florida

A Florida boot camp supervisor accused of killing a 14-year-old boy has told a court that guards would not have beaten the victim if he had kept exercising.

Charles Helms said Martin Lee Anderson could have avoided being hit if he had "walked, got up, finished the run".

The youth collapsed while running laps on his first day at the Bay County camp for juvenile offenders in 2006.

He was beaten by guards for 30 minutes and made to inhale ammonia, and died in hospital a day later.

A medical examiner said the "forced inhalation" of ammonia caused the teenager's vocal cords to spasm and block his upper airways, and he died of suffocation.

The boy was sent to the boot camp for probation violations, after he was charged with stealing his grandmother's car from a church parking lot.

His death and the beating, captured on videotape, led Florida lawmakers to order that all such camps be shut down.

'Combative'

Mr Helms is the highest ranking of seven ex-guards on trial for manslaughter for the incident. A nurse from the camp is also on trial.

Mr Helms said he did not initially see the teenager's condition as a medical emergency, and his main concern was to get the him to comply with orders.

He said the boy showed "signs of life" throughout the incident.

Another guard, Raymond Hauck, testified he also was following camp procedures.

A third guard testified Tuesday that Mr Anderson appeared responsive and combative, but fell and said he could not breathe.

Asked whether he would have done anything different in hindsight, the guard replied: "I would have done everything different."