Suspect’s diabetic care at issue
Teen facing murder charge has been at CCDC for 4 months
A pediatric endocrinologist testified Tuesday that the Clark County Detention Center is not properly managing a 16-year-old boy’s diabetes, leading to dangerously high blood sugar levels since he was arrested more than four months ago.
“At the time of his initial incarceration, I don’t think he was monitored very much at all,” said Dr. Henry Rodriguez, clinical director of the University of South Florida’s Diabetes Center. “That increased to two to three times a day, and more recently it appears that he has been monitored approximately four times a day.”
Children with Type 1 diabetes, like Ethan Goin, need to have their blood sugar levels tested at least four times a day, Rodriguez said.
But medical records provided to Rodriguez have not properly recorded the timing of his blood sugar tests, meals, and when he is being given insulin, the doctor testified during a hearing on the teenager’s treatment at the jail, which is operated by the Metropolitan Police Department.
Goin was arrested Aug. 28 and has been charged with murder.
According to court records, Goin’s blood sugar levels have been high enough to show symptoms of hyperglycemia nearly every day he has been tested since late August.
People usually start to show symptoms of hyperglycemia once their blood sugar reaches 200 milligrams per deciliter. While incarcerated, Goin’s tests have shown levels at 300 milligrams and above at least once a day for more than 100 days, court records show.
Long-term hyperglycemia can cause damage to the eyes and kidneys, eventually leading to blindness and kidney failure, Rodriguez said.
Goin’s public defender, Sarah Hawkins, filed an emergency motion requesting District Judge Cristina Silva either release Goin from custody, transfer him to a psychiatric hospital or juvenile facility, or order Metro to treat the 16-yearold’s diabetes with the help of a pediatric endocrinologist.
Hawkins wrote that without intervention, the detention center’s treatment of Goin “may severely injure or kill this particularly vulnerable child.”
Metro spokesman Aden Ocampogomez said the department disputes the allegations in Hawkins’ motion but declined to comment further.
Goin is accused of leaving school the day before he was arrested and fatally stabbing 48-year-old Vergel Guintu in his Summerlin home. Goin later told police he did not remember what happened inside Guintu’s home.