TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Federal officials will not pursue civil rights violations or other charges against the boot camp employees implicated in the videotaped death of a 14-year-old who was hit and kicked by guards while a nurse looked on, the Justice Department said Friday. Despite a lengthy investigation, prosecutors could not establish that the seven guards and the nurse willfully deprived Martin Lee Anderson of his civil rights, the department said, and the probe has been closed.

.."A state court jury acquitted the guards and nurse of manslaughter on Oct. 12, 2007. Federal authorities then began investigating whether the boy’s civil rights were violated.

The Justice Department said in a news release that investigators did not have enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. Prosecutors would have had to prove that the boot camp employees’ intent was willful — the highest standard imposed by the law, the release said.

The video showed the seven men punching Anderson and using knee strikes against him. It also showed them pushing ammonia capsules into his nose and dragging his limp body around the camp’s yard. The nurse did not appear to intervene during the incident.

Garrett, a sergeant at the camp, was around Anderson through most of his interaction with the guards. He said he was confused by the mixed signals coming from Anderson.

“He’s answering questions, and then he lets his body go limp. His ability to talk and his ability to breathe was one sign,” Garrett said. “Letting his body drop was giving me another sign.”

Garrett, 30, of Lynn Haven, said Anderson was talking throughout most of the interaction — saying that he was tired and wouldn’t finish a required physical assessment run. Garrett said Anderson got angry a few times and would tense up. That’s when the guards would throw him to the ground or use pain-compliance techniques, such as pressure points.

Folks on both sides wore crosses around their necks - God was on their side, maybe, or they just needed him to get through this.

How small a town is Panama City? Just across the street from the courthouse where the guards and nurse are being tried sits the camp. Shut down like the rest in Florida after the video made national news, it sits abandoned, razor-wire gates rusty.

Tired of scenes of a boy collapsing and dragged upright again, I left and drove to where Martin lived. It is literally on the other side of the tracks, a scrubby street of ramshackle houses.

A few blocks over is the cemetery, the grass too high, fence sagging. He is there, flanked by stone angels, not a hero, not a monster, just gone.

What will the jury call what happened to Martin Lee Anderson? Sad comes to mind. And sorry. And wrong.