BALTIMORE — A plea for help ended in Dontae Melton Jr.’s death. Now his family wants answers.
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“Dontae and his family deserves justice and we intend to fight for it,” their attorney Larry Greenberg said.
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Standing outside the Baltimore City Circuit Court on Tuesday, Greenberg announced they would file a lawsuit as soon as the Attorney General’s Office finishes its investigation.
Melton was experiencing a mental health crisis on the evening of June 24th, when he approached a Baltimore police officer for help. When the 31-year-old didn't comply with orders to stay out of the street, the officer restrained him.
The AG's office reports this was for Melton's "own safety."
“Instead of compassion, Baltimore City police officers restrained him, arrested him, mocked him, abused him, and left him to die on the street that night,” Greenberg said.
"Despite seeing that Dante was suffering from mental illness, and they all acknowledged it, no crisis trained officers were called to the scene. Instead, he was taken to the ground, handcuffed, and left in a prone position in violation of the rules," he added.
Officers also waited nearly 50 minutes for medics who never showed, due to the city’s computer-aided dispatch or CAD system being down, before melton's health rapidly declined and police ended up driving him to the hospital themselves.
He died at Grace Medical Center a few hours later.
“No one at the hospital was told his name. So Dontae died alone and unknown. They never called his family. They never called his children, his parents. No one,” Greenberg said.
Last week, The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Melton's cause of death was homicide.
Melton is remembered as a fun, likable guy, who struggled with his mental health.
"He had issues that a lot of people in today's society have with mental health, but that doesn't mean they should be killed," Greenberg said.
Family had previously called police for help voluntarily, but it's not clear if officers at the scene personally knew him.
Greenberg also claims there is a 30 minute gap between when officers left the scene and Melton is documented to have arrived at the hospital.
Family members declined to comment but held each other after Tuesday's announcement.
Melton's mother was not there, because Greenberg says, she was too overwhelmed with grief.
While the cause of death has been released, Melton's manner of death has not. Lawyers with the Greenberg Law Office say the autopsy has been completed but they have not received the results.
WMAR-2 News reached out to OCME to confirm. Special Assistant to the Chief Stephanie Moore responded “[it] was ruled a homicide and that is all we are able to release at this time since the case is investigation is open and ongoing.”
Baltimore Police also declined to comment on pending litigation.
