Official says aide’s death not related to attack
By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-HeraldUTICA - A pathologist has ruled the death of a longtime Tryon Residential Center youth division aide was not related to the beating he suffered at the facility July 16, an Oneida County official said Wednesday.
Charles Loftly, 60, of Utica died Tuesday after he suffered a seizure and lapsed into a coma Friday morning. His death came six weeks after a Tryon youth attacked him with a 2-by-3-foot piece of wood.
Loftly was out of work and collecting workers' compensation when he suffered a seizure Friday and was discovered unconscious by his longtime live-in girlfriend, Thelma Porter. He was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital in Utica and was later found to be brain dead. His family decided to have doctors take him off life support Tuesday.
Oneida County Coroner Gregory Mills said an autopsy was done Wednesday at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Utica.
"It was just one of these occurrences that this man suffered a stroke," Mills said.
He said the pathologist who performed the autopsy - Dr. Michael Sikirica - determined Loftly died of "natural causes" and his death was not related to the beating he took at Tryon July 16.
Randall Bell, 16, no address available, is incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail on one felony count of second-degree assault in connection with the attack on Loftly.
Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said this morning she hadn't heard the official report by Mills on the autopsy. She said she was due to meet today with state police at her office to go over the results of that medical examination.
Sira said Wednesday she was reserving action on whether to upgrade the charge against Bell pending the results of the autopsy.
Stephen Madarasz, director of communications for the Albany-based Civil Service Employees Association - Loftly's union at Tryon - said the union is "mourning the death" of the former Tryon aide.
CSEA President Danny Donohue also spoke about the death.
"Regardless of the circumstances of Charles Loftly's death, the brutal beating he suffered should never have happened," Donohue said. "The staffing situation in Office of Children & Family Services has long been a cause for concern because it has left staff and youth at risk.
"CSEA sends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Charles Loftly, but we also want our members and the public to know that anything short of immediate and sustained effort to bring about a better and safer environment in OCFS facilities is unacceptable."
Two top OCFS officials Wednesday said they were reserving comments for the next week or so on Loftly's death to give the family and the Tryon staff time to mourn.
OCFS Executive Deputy Commissioner William Getman said Wednesday, "We are very saddened by our co-worker, Charles."
Madarasz said longstanding conditions in OCFS facilities have worsened recently as the facility has sought to shift its orientation from a corrections-type model toward a more therapeutic, sanctuary-type approach, CSEA officials said.
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RobinWentworth
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09-01-08 9:28 PM
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justice - you are absolutely right, they have had years to make things better, but unfortunately they have not done it. Hopefully they will start working on correcting years of mistakes.
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justice
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08-31-08 9:23 PM
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Robin Wentworth The point still is they all have had years to make things better the admin., the politians, csea and perf
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ignoredissue
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08-30-08 4:48 PM
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Mr. Charles Lee Loftly Obituary, R.I.P. www(dot)uticaod(dot)net/obits/obit_detail.php?ID=13885412
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teebzz
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08-30-08 2:01 AM
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that last sentence speaks volumes.
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sighing
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08-30-08 12:35 AM
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While the beating might not have been the direct cause in this man's death, it very well could have been the contributing factor. The contributing factor would be all the stress Mr Loftly went through both during the beating and after. Add more stress such as the hard times WC generally puts a person through and then just trying to pay your bills, buy groceries, etc, was just too just too much for his body to handle; his blood pressure went up and he had a major stroke, or as Jr88fanyNY mentioned, he had a slow brain bleed. This is a very big possibility. A good lawyer (oxymoron?) OK..a shrewd lawyer can make a case that all of the physical and mental stress he experienced led to a CVA and this was the final contributing factor which led to his death. Whatever, his beneficiaries should be awarded the appropriate on-the-job death benefits. Just a thought, if the charges are upgraded to murder, wouldn't Mr Loftly's death automatically be related to the beating?
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Bill
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08-29-08 6:59 AM
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Someone call the FBI. The union sits but collects dues
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RobinWentworth
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08-28-08 10:37 PM
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justice - I apologize if my post struck such a raw nerve for you. I was not supporting Danny Donohue in any way. The point I was making was that whether or not the attack had anything to do with this gentleman's death the fact remains that there was a brutal attack and OCFS needs to make changes in that environment to protect the people who go to work there everyday.
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Harleyman9
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08-28-08 7:17 PM
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Charles was a good friend ,an outstanding YDA and a very respected presence at Tryon. My prayers to his family. We miss you Loft,,Godspeed brother!
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justice
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08-28-08 6:58 PM
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You can agree with danny donnahue he is a big --- ---- he is in all the politians pockets except for a few and thier in his! He does nothing for members csea doesn't support members in time of need. He also needs to go, better yet these facilities need to get a new union! When you don't pay someone who had the insurance through the union because she was only kidnapped for six hours and not seven and wouldn't over rule it when he could have what kind of person is he. Why don't you people wake up.
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RobinWentworth
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08-28-08 5:17 PM
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I would have to agree with the comment made by CSEA President Danny Donohue, "Regardless of the circumstances of Charles Loftly's death, the brutal beating he suffered should never have happened," Donohue said. "The staffing situation in Office of Children & Family Services has long been a cause for concern because it has left staff and youth at risk." Whether the attack was the cause of the death or not, the attack happened and it was brutal. OCFS needs to recognize the dangerous position they are putting staff in everytime these people show up for work and need to change the environment immediately. Without any consequences for negative behavior these types of attacks will continue.
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rocky1
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08-28-08 4:16 PM
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Autopsy and pathologist report was finished way to quickly. While my prayers are with the family at this time and I pray that Mr. Lofty can finally rest in peace, I also pray that this whole scandal hits the fan. It is my belief that even medical professionals can be bought off if the price is right. A more thorough autopsy by a uninterested 3rd party is called for in this instance.
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Jr88fanNY
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08-28-08 3:17 PM
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"Two top OCFS officials Wednesday said they were reserving comments for the next week or so on Loftly's death to give the family and the Tryon staff time to mourn." In my opinion they should continue to keep their mouths shut as it seems when they open them nothing but fictional diarrhea spews from it. I hope the family gets a good pathologist like Dr Michael Baden to do a private autopsy. Having medical knowledge in the EMS field I do not buy the results of this autopsy. A man that has never had any problems gets beat over the head starts having seizures and goes into a coma dies from natural causes? Very fishy... it is medically known head injuries can cause seizures as well as blood clots or slow brain bleeds that can cause death.
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justplainsick
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08-28-08 2:26 PM
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ditto
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Discobulous
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08-28-08 2:25 PM
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my fanny
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DFYOCFS
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08-28-08 12:57 PM
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0
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