Mississippi Today

‘This should not have happened,’ lawyer says of 16-year-old’s death at poultry plant

Published

1 year ago

February 9, 2024

Duvan Perez spent time with his mother and siblings and liked to listen to music and work out at the gym.

At night, he arrived at Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg to clean machinery used to process chicken for sale in restaurants. He was earning money to buy his own car.

“He was living the life that you’d expect of a 16-year-old,” said Seth Hunter, a Hattiesburg attorney.

Until he wasn’t and became the third person to die at the poultry plant in less than three years.

Duvan Perez, 16, a Hattiesburg middle-schooler, was killed July 14, 2023, while cleaning a deboning machine at Mar-Jac Poultry. Credit: Courtesy of the family's attorney, Seth Hunter

On the night of July 14, 2023, the Hattiesburg middle-schooler was cleaning a deboning machine when he got caught in a rotating shaft and sprockets and pulled in, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found in an investigation of the incident.

Federal child labor laws prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from working in meat processing plants because the machinery can be dangerous.

In court records and a statement released after Duvan’s death, Mar-Jac pointed the finger at its contractor, Onin Staffing, saying it relied on the company headquartered in Birmingham to verify employees’ age, qualifications and training, a wrongful lawsuit filed by the teenager’s mother, Edilma Perez Ramirez, alleges.

Despite this, Mar-Jac allowed Duvan to clean the equipment “without actual or constructive knowledge that Perez was under the legal age to legally perform such job duties,” according to court documents.

The Feb. 1 lawsuit, filed in the Forrest County Circuit Court, is asking for compensatory damages from Mar-Jac, Onin and other defendants, including damages for funeral and burial costs, pain and suffering and the value of future earnings Duvan would have earned.

“(The family knows) that this should not have happened,” said Hunter, who is representing the family with Biloxi attorney Jim Reeves.

The lawsuit alleges Mar-Jac’s procedure for cleaning machinery did not did not follow proper safety procedures and industry standards. Typically, the machine would be disconnected from power and a lockout would be used to prevent the machine from intentionally starting.

It also alleges Onin allowed Perez to perform a task outside of his scope due to his age and lack of training.

Attorneys representing Mar-Jac and Onin did not respond to a request for comment. The companies and other defendants have 30 days to respond to the complaint.

In a statement released shortly after Perez’s death, Mar-Jac said the company “would never knowingly put any employee, and certainly not a minor, in harm’s way” but reiterated that the staffing companies are responsible for verifying age and identification.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit are Letissha Hill, a human resources and staffing director at Mar-Jac, and John Daniels, a safety supervisor at the plant. Unknown defendants are others who may have worked for either company and those who manufactured and maintained the machinery Perez was operating when he died.

Hunter said the goal of the lawsuit is to find out why this happened to Perez and seek change to prevent other children from across the country from being placed in dangerous work conditions.

“They shouldn’t be there in the first place,” he said.

Perez was indigenous and from Guatemala, according to the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, a Jackson-based nonprofit organization that supports immigrants across the state.

The lawsuit alleges Mar-Jac has a history of worker safety issues.

Safety records show OSHA issued at least eight citations for safety violations at the plant before Perez’s death for deaths in 2020 and 2021, three amputations and injuries from a fall that required hospitalization, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit comes weeks after OSHA cited Mar-Jac for 17 violations in Duvan’s death, and 14 of them were classified as serious, totaling over $212,000 in proposed penalties.

Mar-Jac could have enforced strict safety standards, but less than a year after Perez’s death, that has not happened.

“Nothing has changed, and the company continues to treat employee safety as an afterthought, putting its workers at risk,” OSHA Regional Administrator Kurt Petermeyer said in a Jan. 16 statement.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

UMMC holds free cancer screenings

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @EricJShelton – 2025-04-30 12:00:00

by Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Resident physician Claire Babin, right, performs an oral cancer screening on Ella Holmes during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Physicians prepare for oral, head and neck cancer screenings during a free screening event at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin, center, screens Diane Carter for oral cancer as medical students Mason Nodurft, left, and Eva Kiparizoska observe during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Educational giveaways advocating against smoking are available during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Sharon Terry, senior tobacco treatment specialist, waits for patients during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Skylar Robinson, medical office assistant, left, and Kiandria Bruce, registered nurse, review materials at the patient sign-in table during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Head and neck cancer literature is available during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Dr. Alex Brooks and registered nurse Angela Noble talk during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Nina Brown, clinical manager, helps Ned Bostic with paperwork during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin performs an oral cancer screening on Ned Bostic at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Ned Bostic receives a neck cancer screening during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Resident physician Brooks Lampkin, center, and medical student Hanna Watson examine Ned Bostic during a free oral, head and neck cancer screening at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery hosted a free oral, head, and neck cancer screening Wednesday at the Jackson Medical Mall as part of Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week.

The event featured quick, noninvasive screenings aimed at catching cancer early — when treatment is most effective. Onyx Care provided free HPV vaccinations, while the ACT Center for Tobacco Treatment, Education, and Research offered resources on smoking cessation and free services.

“These screenings take about 10 minutes and can save lives,” said Dr. Gina Jefferson, head and neck surgical oncologist at UMMC. “The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance we have of curing it.”

Tobacco and alcohol use remain major risk factors for these cancers. However, physicians say an increasing number of cases are linked to HPV, especially among younger adults with no history of smoking or drinking. Dentists are often the first to spot early signs, which can include persistent sores, lumps in the neck, or difficulty swallowing.

Oral, head and neck cancers are among the most common globally. When found early, survival rates can exceed 80 percent.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post UMMC holds free cancer screenings appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents factual information about a free cancer screening event without showing a clear ideological stance. It primarily focuses on the health benefits of early cancer detection and the availability of free resources, such as HPV vaccinations and smoking cessation support. The language used is neutral and the content is centered around public health education rather than promoting a political viewpoint. The inclusion of factual statistics, such as survival rates and risk factors, adds to its informative and objective tone. There are no signs of bias or advocacy for a particular political agenda, making this a centrist piece.

Crooked Letter Sports Podcast

Podcast: What next for Mississippi State baseball?

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @rick_cleveland – 2025-04-30 10:46:00

by Rick Cleveland and Tyler Cleveland, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Mississippi State didn’t even wait until the end of the season to fire Chris Lemonis, who brought the national championship to Starkville not quite four years ago. Where do the Bulldogs go from here. Robbie Faulk who covers the Bulldogs more closely than anyone else joins the podcast to discuss the situation.

Stream all episodes here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Podcast: What next for Mississippi State baseball? appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Mississippi Today

Mobile sports betting users: We want to hear from you

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-30 10:21:00

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
April 30, 2025

Mississippi Today is looking to speak with current and former mobile sports betting users. We’d like to speak with people who spend considerable amounts of time and money betting on sports through online gambling sites.

We’re interested in hearing the experience of people who have suffered from gambling addiction or problems, or friends and family members of people who have. We also would like to talk with people who believe legalizing mobile sports betting would benefit Mississippi and its residents.

We want to hear from you. Please take the survey below or contact Political Reporter Michael Goldberg by email at mgoldberg@mississippitoday.org

TAKE THE SURVEY:

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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Mobile sports betting users: We want to hear from you appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article from Mississippi Today appears to present a neutral stance, focusing on gathering input from various groups of mobile sports betting users, including those who may have experienced addiction issues. The content does not advocate for or against the legalization of mobile sports betting but instead seeks to gather diverse perspectives, including those of individuals who may support or oppose it. The language used is objective and does not suggest a particular ideological perspective, allowing for a balanced exploration of the issue at hand.