Kriti Mehrotra
Although born in Liberia in March 2003, Naomi Wood grew up in Barnard, Virginia, alongside her little sister Zoe, adoptive parents, as well as four more siblings. However, as explored in HBO Max’s ‘Teen Torture, Inc.,’ even with the unwavering love and care from her family, she wasn’t doing too well by the time she was a teenager. Therefore, as devout Christians, the Woods trusted the self-proclaimed Christian nonprofit Lakeland Girls Academy and their parent organization Teen Challenge with her care, unaware she’d end up losing her life.
Naomi Woods Attended Boarding Schools For Most of Her Life
While the Woods appeared to be an almost idyllic family from the outside, they themselves concede they have had internal issues over the years, just like any other normal family. Matriarch Debbie even joined several adoption support groups while also seeking the help of nonprofits like Easterseals Vermont while her daughters were growing up because she did feel like they couldn’t connect. She apparently had a good relationship with Zoe, but she “never quite felt like I was doing it right with [Naomi]. I was missing the signal. The frequency was off.”
Even after Naomi returned home from spending the majority of her middle school years at the residential program of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in Westminster, there was still a disconnect. Unfortunately, this only grew a bit more when she got caught stealing hard seltzer from the local grocery store where she worked, lied about having people over at her house, and flipped her car into a ditch while speeding in 2019. Therefore, hoping to see her thrive in the way they knew she could, owing to her bright, loving, caring personality, they decided to enroll her at Lakeland Girls Academy.
According to the Woods’ own accounts, they trusted Lakeland because of its parent organization’s association with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church and the shining review they’d received by then-president George W. Bush in 2006. So, on February 4, 2020, they dropped off Naomi at the school with a hug and a kiss goodbye, unaware it would be the last time they’d ever see her. They did get 20 minutes to talk to her on call every single week since she never missed one, but they couldn’t go see her no matter how much they wanted to due to COVID-19 and the restrictions around it.
Naomi Woods Died in 2020
It was 6:15 pm on May 19, 2020, that Naomi was found lying unconscious in her dorm room, immediately following which the emergency services were contacted, and she was rushed to the Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center. But alas, it was too late – the 17-year-old was pronounced dead at 7:16 pm, all the while her family was having a belated celebration for Mother’s Day at their farm home in Barnard, Virginia. They were informed of the same soon after, but they were under the assumption the school did everything in its power to help their little girl, that is, until a Department of Children & Families report came out months later.
While Naomi’s autopsy made it clear she’d died of a seizure disorder, the DCF report detailed the circumstances surrounding her passing, and it wasn’t what the Woods expected. According to the reports, the teen had been complaining of chronic stomach pain in April, but instead of listening to her and making an appointment to see a doctor, the school just gave her Pepto-Bismol. In fact, they administered this over-the-counter medication to her around 20 times, only for her pain as well as symptoms to keep intensifying.
The report even added that Naomi had started vomiting on the night of May 18, which continued throughout the next day, but the school still made her get up for food and follow other protocols. The fact they’d e-mailed her mother about her pain only once on April 15 before never mentioning it again was also highlighted, along with the fact their treatment plan was to pray for her health. So, with all this, the Wodds filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lakeland’s then Directors, Teen Challenge of Florida, and Adult & Teen Challenge USA in 2022.
The Woods do not blame these plaintiffs for the seizure disorder since Naomi already had two episodes in 2018, following which a neurologist had determined she did not have an underlying condition, but they do accuse them of neglect causing loss of life. But alas, in 2023, a Florida judge ruled that they can’t pursue this matter in court owing to technicalities and will have to resolve their conflict through Christian arbitration.
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