BY BRENT KALLESTAD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

An amended $5 million claims bill for the family of a teenager who died after being brutally murdered roughed up by guards at a state-supervised boot camp passed the Senate on Wednesday and was sent to the governor.

Gov. Charlie Crist and black lawmakers had led the effort to compensate the family of Martin Lee Anderson, who died in January 2006 shortly after being kneed, struck and having ammonia tablets held to his nose at the military-style facility run by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City.

The state already has paid Anderson’s parents $200,000, the most allowed by law without legislative approval. The bill would pay the remaining $4.8 million of the proposed settlement.

“While no dollar amount will return their son to his family, compensating them for this tragedy is the right thing to do,” Crist said.

The sheriff’s office has settled separately with the Anderson family for $2.4 million. Seven guards and a nurse employed at the camp face manslaughter charges.