Sister demands change in wake of younger brother's suicide

SHREVEPORT, La. – Savanah Hall describes her younger brother as an outgoing, intelligent and athletic boy.

"He was very outgoing and vibrant,” Hall said. “Constantly wanting to learn and do."

The one of the last times Hall saw her brother was at an air show at Barksdale Air Force Base.

“I was walking through (the crowd) and I was like, 'Oh my goodness, wait a second! Oh my goodness,” Hall remembered. “I spent a little time with him there. And of course didn't know it was the last time I would see him."

Hall’s brother, Solan Peterson, was the second of two teenage boys to take their own life within 72 hours, while being held at the Ware Youth Center in Coushatta. Peterson turned 13 just weeks before his death in February.

Hall knows little about her brother’s final days alive. She is one of many people still looking for those answers.

“I've read the reports. He would stay up at night and sing the Star Spangled Banner all night," Hall said.  "I truly can’t imagine what he was thinking. Especially for so long, in a room with no windows, by himself."

According to incident reports, Solan hanged himself. He fashioned a makeshift noose with a t-shirt and hung it over a door hinge. He was in solitary confinement when it happened.

Solan was first brought to Ware on Feb. 1. He was accused of setting a toilet paper dispenser on fire at Haughton Middle School.

Hall does not believe detaining Solan was the right decision.

"(Solan was) not innocent, but he was no threat. I don't think he was going to hurt anyone," Hall said.

Hall talked about her brother’s early childhood, which she said was filled with struggle and neglect.

"From a very young age, (Solan) experienced an enormous amount of neglect, physical abuse," Hall said, describing multiple instances in which Solan was quieted with cold medicine when he cried as a baby.

Solan was one of seven siblings who shared a biological mother. The siblings were removed from their mother when Solan’s youngest sister was born with drugs in her system. Most of the siblings were placed in separate homes.

"By the time (Solan) was seven years old, he was with 11 different families -- I think is what I counted,” Hall said. “I can’t imagine what a child must feel about that."

Hall and one of her sisters were adopted by the same family. As the adoption proceedings moved forward, the regular meetings with Hall, her sister, and their biological family ceased. The two girls were told they could no longer have contact with the rest of their biological family.

"You suddenly have no idea where they are, what they're doing, who they're with -- if they're even OK. You can’t talk to them," Hall said.

Solan was six years old when he was placed with the family that would eventually adopt him.

He was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Hall said Solan’s adoptive parents began to update her on her brother’s life. She said he seemed happy, playing hockey, achieving good grades and avoiding trouble in school.

Not long before Solan's arrest, his doctor switched his medications.

According to Hall, Solan’s father called his son’s psychiatrist, who then called the judge handling the case.

"The psychiatrist said have him sent to the hospital. They can detain him there. They can monitor him, watch him, and they can do an evaluation, which is what needs to be done. Don't take him to the detention center,” Hall said. “He told the police that. He told the judge that, that day"

According to reports, Solan did not receive a psychological evaluation after he arrived at Ware. The state requires one within 72 hours.

Hall said her brother was failed “by many people.”

Solan's death was the second at Ware in February. 17-year-old Jordan Bachman, of Denver, hanged himself two days before Solan did.

A preliminary investigation shows the Ware guards, who were required to check on the boys every 15 minutes, didn't do so for over an hour.

One of the guards involved is on paid administrative leave, while the other has not returned to work since Solan’s death.

The Red River Parish District Attorney is reviewing a final investigative report from the Red River Parish Sheriff’s office, and has yet to determine whether criminal charges will be filed.

"I want to find a way to ban solitary confinement for juveniles. Period," Hall said.

She's working with a local judge and Louisiana Senator Ryan Gatti, in hopes of passing legislation she’d like to call Solan’s Bill.

"There has to be hundreds of alternative ways that could actually help better the child, or rehabilitate them in some way, so they can be a better person in the end, than confine them and make them angry," Hall said. "I don't want it to happen to another kid in Louisiana -- to another kid in this country. I don't want it to ever be a possibility."

Gatti told KTBS 3 that he is still looking into what happened to the two teens at Ware, and he's not sure legislation is the answer.

"In this situation so far, it looks like there’s a high standard in place already in the juvenile justice system,” Gatti said. “This might be a situation where they fell below that standard of care."

Gatti said he still needs to do more research before coming up with a concrete plan, but he believes the state should invest more money in juvenile mental health.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights has worked with state Rep. Malinda Brumfield-White and state Rep. Paula Davis to pre-file House Bill 158 in the upcoming legislative session that would reduce the "unnecessary use of detention and all the harm it does to kids and public safety." 

"Jailing children puts them in danger and makes them more likely to commit crimes in the future," LCCR states in a Facebook post this week.