Family, city council members call for reform after in-custody death of Dontae Melton Jr. 

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Family members of Dontae Melton Jr. are speaking out about the Baltimore man’s death, which took place in police custody on June 24 and has since been ruled a homicide by the Maryland Chief Medical Examiners Office.

“Homicide…this is what happened to Dontae Melton Jr. on June 24, 2025,” said Lawrence “Larry” S. Greenberg, an attorney at Greenberg Law Offices, who is representing the Melton family. “He was a 31-year-old man in the midst of a mental health crisis begging for police to help.”

Melton’s death has raised concerns from his family and Baltimore City Council members about how the case was handled and what changes need to happen. 

“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,” said Greenberg on Sept. 2 at a press conference with the Melton family behind him, grieving. “He cried that he couldn’t breathe. He asked to go to the hospital, but it fell on deaf ears. Despite seeing that Dontae was suffering from mental illness, no crisis trained officers were called to the scene.”

According to the body cam footage released by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, police responded to Melton Jr., 31, after he stopped a car to ask for help at a traffic light. Eventually, police had to restrain him so that he would not run into traffic. While he was restrained, police began to see signs of medical distress. The police called for an ambulance which never arrived. After 45 minutes of waiting the police drove the man to a nearby hospital themselves. 

Greenberg shared his concern about a 30-minute gap in the time between the officers leaving the site of the arrest and arriving at the hospital.

“Once he was at the hospital, despite the initial officer knowing his name, no one at the hospital was told his name,” said Greenberg. “Dontae died alone and unknown. They never called his family. They never called his children, his parents, no one.”

The family is demanding full disclosure about what happened to Melton and is asking witnesses to come forward. Their legal team is also preparing a lawsuit against those responsible, which is expected to be filed after the attorney general’s investigation is complete.

At a city council hearing on crisis response on Aug. 27, city council members discussed the need for improved police training on mental health calls.

“A mental health crisis should not become a death sentence,” said Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen (D).  

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley admitted that the computer aided dispatch system (CAD) that police use to contact medical help has failed 25 times this year and confirmed it was down at the time of the incident. 

In a press release, Cohen discussed three critical changes that the city council hopes to make regarding police response. 

First is a “best-in-class” mobile crisis response system, as well as a new office of behavioral health within the health department that will be established to coordinate what organizations are currently involved in crisis response. Cohen also wants Commissioner Worley to commit to ensuring that all new police officers receive crisis response certification at the academy. 

“This is a significant step forward,” said Cohen in the press release. “By building a stronger, coordinated, and compassionate crisis response system, we can better protect and serve Baltimoreans in their moments of greatest need.”