BALTIMORE — Charges will not be filed in connection with the police-involved in-custody death of Dontae Melton Jr., Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Wednesday.
Melton, 31, died on June 25 at a Baltimore-area hospital just hours after experiencing a mental health crisis while in police custody.
Body-worn camera footage shows him asking Officer Gerard Pettiford for help, expressing that he felt like he was being chased.
When Melton didn't respond to commands to get out of the street and sit down, he was restrained first by Pettiford and then by several responding officers.
The footage also revealed that Baltimore City police officers waited nearly 45 minutes for a medic to assist Melton, who had stopped responding while restrained on the ground.
According to a report from the AG's Office, Melton was restrained for "his own safety."
Officials later revealed the city's computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system was down when the request for medical assistance was submitted.
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As the wait for medical assistance continued, officer Jacob Dahl, one of the responding officers, could be heard telling Sergeant Joshua Jackson at the scene, "His breathing is getting shallower and shallower."
Moments later, officers rushed Melton to the hospital themselves — a two-minute drive.
Two months after the incident, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Melton's death a homicide.
READ MORE: Man's death while in police custody ruled a homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Melton's family released a statement Wednesday condemning the Attorney General's decision, saying in part, "The IID's conclusion that 'none of the subject officers committed a crime under Maryland law' is irreconcilable with the State's own factual findings."
"This case highlights exactly why the public has lost faith in the system," said Larry Greenberg, the family's attorney. "The family deserves a thorough accounting and meaningful reforms, not a declination that insulates institutions from responsibility. Mr. Melton should not have died. He was raised to trust the police, and when he was in crisis, they should have protected him. Instead, he deteriorated in their custody until it was too late. This needless loss of life must not be forgotten."
"Today's decision is not justice," said Eleshiea Goode, speaking on behalf of the family. "The State reviewed an incident where a young man in crisis was restrained, became unresponsive, and waited nearly forty minutes without an ambulance. Declaring that no crime occurred defies common sense and basic human decency."
The family also listed three demands:
• A transparent, independent public accounting of the CAD and dispatch failure, including what safeguards now exist to prevent recurrence
• Immediate, enforceable reforms to ensure reliable emergency medical response when individuals are in police custody
• Public review and strengthened standards governing police encounters with people experiencing behavioral health crises, centered on the preservation of life
READ: Family seeks answers, justice after "needless" in-custody death
The full declination report from the Attorney General's Office can be read below:
