Two Allendale Association Employees Charged in Death of Teen

Photo caption: James Davis (left) and Justin J. Serak (right)

LAKE VILLA, IL - Bail has been set at $1 million for an employee at Allendale Association who is charged with manslaughter in the death of a 16-year-old resident at the facility.

Shaquan Allen, of Chicago, died of asphyxiation Wednesday night after James Davis, 37, of Round Lake, allegedly put the teen into a chokehold while he and another employee were trying to restrain the boy during a "behavioral episode," the Lake County News-Sun reports. Davis and his fellow employee, Justin J. Serak, 27, of Kenosha, Wis., were also both charged with obstructing justice for making up a false story and telling police Davis slipped on water.

Police interviewed 16 witnesses and officials said Serak admitted to making up that story, the Daily Herald reports. Serak's bail was set at $50,000.

Authorities were called to the Allendale Association campus, 1 Offield Drive in Lake Villa, at about 10 p.m. Wednesday after a staff member made a 911 call to report an unresponsive male. Allen was taken to Condell Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:10 p.m.

Fifteens minutes passed between the time Allen became unconscious and a staff member called 911, according to the Daily Herald.

"That 15-minute period is certainly troubling to me and certainly to the family as well," Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim said. "We want to express our deepest sympathies to the Allen family and friends in this case."

The boy was a ward of the state. His mother had pushed to have him admitted at Allendale to keep him off the streets, according to CBS Chicago.

More via the Daily Herald and the Lake County News-Sun