Overview
- The decision follows an investigation into the June 24, 2025 encounter in West Baltimore recorded on police body cameras during a reported mental health crisis.
- The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by drug intoxication, hyperthermia and restraint.
- Investigators say officers requested an ambulance five times, but an extended failure of the city’s computer-aided dispatch system blocked the calls and delayed medical response by about 40 minutes.
- Officers transported Melton to Grace Medical Center themselves, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
- Melton’s family condemned the declination and is pursuing a civil lawsuit, and the City Council president has scheduled an oversight hearing next month on the dispatch system.