Baltimore 7th grader died of natural causes on field trip, autopsy finds
BALTIMORE -- A 13-year-old from Baltimore died of natural causes on a school field trip last month, the Cecil County Sheriff's office announced.
Athumani Brown, a seventh-grader at Baltimore Montessori Public Charter School, died during a school-sponsored visit to a camp in Cecil County.
Cecil County deputies responded on June 1 to the North Bay Adventure Camp in North East for a report of a teen in cardiac arrest, officials said.
Brown collapsed at a beach area of the camp, according to investigators. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Baltimore City Schools and the camp both described Brown's death as a "significant medical event," but it is unclear what triggered the cardiac arrest.
The Sheriff's office said it investigated the incident with the assistance of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which determined Brown died of natural causes.
Brown's mother last month described her anguish on Twitter, and asked if her son was in distress at the time of his collapse.
"This is every mother's horrific nightmare," she said on the social media website. "My baby left happy, healthy, and smiling for a 7th grade trip to NorthBay and now we have to bury him."
"I want to know #whathappenedtoAthu @northbayadvntre why was he complaining about it being too hot? What happened before he collapsed? Was my baby in distress? I want to know now," she said.
The camp said it will conduct an investigation of the incident and provide its findings to Baltimore City Schools. The results of that investigation have not been announced.
