Imani Bell/Photo courtesy of Crimeonline
Coaches Larosa Maria Walker-Asekere and Dwight Broom Palmer have been charged with murder in the death of student basketball player Imani Bell in Georgia, 11 Alive reported.
Almost two years ago, Bell was at an outdoor basketball practice at Elite Scholars Academy. According to a wrongful death lawsuit, the school approved the practice, which is a part of the Clayton County Public School System.
In the midst of a heat advisory and a temperature of 99 degrees, Bell began to show sure signs of heat exhaustion but was instructed to continue conditioning drills with the rest of her team, including running the stadium steps. The temperature would eventually climb to around 103 degrees, but the coaches insisted the players continue.
The 16-year-old player collapsed and was pronounced dead later that evening at a local hospital.
Eric Bell, Imani Bell’s father, is also a high school basketball coach in DeKalb County. He said that the day his daughter died, his own school canceled outdoor practices due to the heat index. The grieving father also said that the announcement of the coaches being charged was tough for him and his family.
“Today is a bittersweet day for the family,” Bell said. “My wife’s birthday was a couple of days ago. Imani’s death day is August 13.”
Last month, a Clayton County grand jury indicted Larosa Maria Walker-Asekere and Dwight Broom Palmer in Bell’s death. The coaches were charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree cruelty to children and reckless conduct.
Although Walker-Asekere maintained that she, as a new coach, was relying on direction from the athletic director at the school, Elite Scholars Academy was found to have violated the Georgia High School Association’s policies for heat and humidity, which prohibits outdoor workouts if the outdoor temperature is 92 degrees or higher.
Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley declined to comment on the case but said that the indictments took two years because it was one of the hundreds of backlogged cases. The office shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
Imani Bell would have been headed to college this year. The double-sport athlete was also an academically advanced student taking courses at Clayton State University.
Palmer and Walker-Asekere are both out on a $75,000 bond. The family’s wrongful death suit has not been settled.