What began as a mental health crisis ended in tragedy.
Last month, 31-year-old Dontae Melton Jr. approached a marked police cruiser at a red light in West Baltimore.
Melton walked into the intersection of West Franklin Street and North Franklintown Road, prompting officers to restrain him “for his own safety,” according to a preliminary report.
Ten officers responded, placing Melton in handcuffs and leg restraints. Body-worn camera footage confirmed their actions.
The officers called for a medic, but one never came. With the city’s dispatch system down, police transported Melton to the hospital in a patrol car.
He died there, nearly six hours after the initial encounter.
Now, his mother, Eleshia Goode, is demanding answers. “I wake up every morning in pain,” she told WJZ in Baltimore.
“I think about him lying on the hot pavement, surrounded by people deciding how to get him help, while no help came.”
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has identified all ten officers involved and is investigating.
They are:
Sgt. Joshua Jackson (8 years), Officer Andre Smith (17 years), Officer Gerard Pettiford, Jr., (7 years), Officer Jacob Dahl (5 years), Officer Kevin Causion (5 years), Officer Ever Cardenas-Huarcaya (3 years), Officer Renardo Spencer (3 years), Officer Jammal Parker (2 years), Officer Darren Hicks, Jr. (2 years), and Officer Ryan Stetser (1 year).
Meanwhile, the family of Melton mourns, and a city faces renewed questions about how it responds to those in crisis—and whether those responses are enough to save lives.
