Mother of Dontae Melton Jr., man who died in police custody, says the system failed her son

Dontae Maurice Melton Jr. died in the custody of Baltimore Police officers June 25 after he was restrained on the night of the 24th during a mental health crisis at the intersection of Franklin Street and Franklintown Road, where he asked a police officer for help.

The 31-year-old father of two suffered from mood disorders and a seizure disorder, his mother, Eleshiea Goode, told Baltimore Beat.

“His decision to start using drugs was his way of self-medicating as he tried to fight the battlefield in his mind that never seem to allow him to rest,” Goode wrote in a text message to the Beat. “He’s been to rehab around seven times in the past 10 years on his own ( he went when he was ‘ready’) because he never gave up on trying to beat the demons in his head.”

After a rehab stint in Crownsville, Melton remained sober for some time and began working at a medical waste plant in Curtis Bay. “He kept that job for almost a year and even bought himself a used truck and was extremely proud of himself as this was the first time he made significant progress managing his condition,” Goode said…

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