Georgia Coaches Charged With Murder After Player Dies At Practice

In August 2019, Imani Bell, passed away as her basketball team practiced outside in temperatures that reached in the high 90’s.

A Clayton County, Georgia grand jury has now handed down an indictment. Larosa Walker-Asekere and Dwight Palmer, the coaches, have been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree child cruelty, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless conduct.

Bell’s relatives say that the girl was performing conditioning drills by running up and down the stairs at the stadium. She then fainted.

It was said that although Bell was observed having problems during the drills, she was told to keep going.

She was taken to a medical facility after collapsing.

An autopsy revealed that the teen died from heat-related cardiac arrest and kidney failure.

The heat index that day was between 101 and 106 degrees. The lawsuit states that the coaches didn’t follow policy and shouldn’t have had practice that day.