04:58 PM CST on Monday, January 30, 2006

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV

ERICH SCHLEGEL / DMN

Raymond Fiala plans to sue the state for the death of his son, Michael, at North Texas State Hospital.

A year after their son died from blunt-force trauma at a state institution where he said he was being beaten, the parents of Michael Fiala said they still don't know the truth behind his death.

Although Raymond Fiala's son was institutionalized much of the last 15 years, he was often able to visit home and the two talked on the phone almost daily.

And while his son was inside the mental hospital surrounded by barbed wire for dangerous patients before he died, Fiala likes to reflect on better memories with his son.

"I remember just a little bit of everything about him," Fiala said. "We were close, very close."

Out in his backyard, Fiala has vintage tractors from his days selling farm implements.

"That was my son's project," he said pointing to one he and his son were going to rebuild together.

However, now the father has dedicated all his energy to finding justice for his son's death.

"His head was so beat up all over it was unbelievable," Fiala said. "I understand they rushed him to emergency surgery. Blood was leaking on his brain. So when blood hits your brain, you know what happens don't you? It just kills you."

Video obtained from the Dallas Morning News from the mental institution Michael Fiala lived within caught the last moments of his life.

During the night of February 8, 2005 and early next morning, Fiala had been in a so-called quiet room with no furniture and a padded floor.

He had become lethargic, had soiled his pant, was unable to eat and video showed attendants trying to feed him. He passed into unconsciousness and was transported to a hospital.

Fiala was 35-years-old when he died of blunt force trauma to his skull.

Surveillance video from the hospital hallways became a key element in an investigation of his death.

Although the cameras showed no violence, they did show that hospital aide Michael Fontenot entered Fiala's room several times prior to the injury.

A staffer at the institution said "faint hollering" could be heard from Fiala's room.

Mr. Fontenot, now 29, told investigators he followed Michael Fiala into the bedroom because he "had been trying to hit people." Mr. Fontenot said he grabbed Michael's hands to keep him from hitting his roommate, then "redirected" him out of the room and into the quiet room.

APS investigator Gary Chapman concluded that Mr. Fontenot was "not credible."

"The only time Mr. Fiala was alone with a staff is when he is in his bedroom with Michael Fontenot," Mr. Chapman wrote. The timing of the injury meshed with the time Michael was alone with Mr. Fontenot and the size and shape of the bruise on Michael Fiala's abdomen matched the size and shape of a bedpost in the room.

According to an investigation report by Adult Protective Services, provided to The News by the Fiala family, a nurse asked Michael how he felt. He replied: "Michael Fontenot just beat me up."

He's now been charged with manslaughter.

Fiala said his son told him he had been abused on multiple occasions.

According to the APS investigation report, which was completed in May, several nurses noted large, dark bruises on Michael's thighs on Feb. 5. He couldn't explain to the nurses how he got the bruises. A doctor said he didn't suspect abuse.

"He says, 'Daddy, I got to get out of here. I don't belong here. These guys are beating me up," he said.

But what happened to Fiala is a story as complicated as mental illness. Fiala was mildly retarded.

A psychological evaluation obtained by the Dallas Morning News notes he first was put in a mental hospital at the age of 19. While at other state hospitals since 2003, he "committed 158 incidents of assault...kicking, hitting and throwing items such as chairs" at patients and staff.

In 2004 he was declared "manifestly dangerous" and transferred to Vernon where the state's most mental patients are placed.

But Fiala insists that his son was treated badly inside the institution.

"I want to know how they can do so much wrong and get away with it," Fiala said. "That's what I want to know."

Michael Fontenot was given a positive employee evaluation after Fiala's death. He still works at Vernon, but was switched to food service.

He declined to talk to News 8, but his trial is scheduled to begin next week.

The Dallas Morning News' Diane Jennings contributed to this report