Linda Harris

A Tennessee woman has told Suffolk authorities that the 14-year-old Amityville girl who died Sunday at a home there for troubled children was found by paramedics with scraped elbows, blood in her mouth, and in physical restraints when they arrived to try to resuscitate her.

Her story contradicts what the home's officials have said about the girl's death as a probe continues to determine the cause.

Suffolk probation officials, who placed Linda Harris in the Chad Youth Enhancement Center two weeks ago for treatment at the urging of the county Family Court and the girl's father, Purcell Harris, said they are taking the woman's account seriously.

They have asked Tennessee law enforcement and child welfare agencies, as well as New York State child welfare officials, to investigate. "I'm very concerned and believe it opens up additional questions that need to be addressed," said John Desmond, the county's probation director.

The woman, Donna Hodges, said she was appalled by the scene Sunday night in the Tennessee hospital emergency room where Harris was taken. "If that poor girl was hurt in any way, people need to know," said Hodges, of Clarksville.

She added that she was at the Gateway Medical Center getting her 17-year-old son treated when she said she overheard paramedics updating doctors on Harris, who was in the next bay. She said the only thing separating them was a curtain.

The story conflicts with what officials at the home have said about Harris' death, the cause of which still remains a mystery.

They said the teenager, who had a history of emotional problems, was being escorted to a "time out" room when she collapsed. Officials for Chad did not return phone calls Friday.

In Tennessee, Capt. Scott Marshall, of the Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services, which responded to the home to treat Linda, said the department couldn't comment pending the outcome of the investigation.

A spokesman for New York Office of Children and Family Services, which oversees placements, has recommended that counties suspend sending children to the center until the completion of the investigation. New York now has no children there.

"We always take a fatality review extremely seriously," said Brian Marchetti, an agency spokesman.

Tennessee child welfare officials have now stopped placements there.