Dontae Melton Jr. seemed to be on the right track. The 31-year-old was working at a medical waste plant in Curtis Bay for over a year, earning enough to buy a used car.

He had just hung out with his mom, sister and his two children at an event on June 12, nearly two weeks before he died in Baltimore police custody.

“We just had a ball,” his mother, Eleshiea Goode, told The Baltimore Banner. “I wish I would’ve known that was the last true family outing we would have.”

By June 15, Goode said, Melton became absent, irritable, angry and paranoid. Melton thought someone was watching him, so he took all the cameras down inside her house, Goode said.

“That’s the very reason why I wanted to get him help,” Goode said.

She went to Eastside District Court on June 16 to request a protective order. Officials could not locate Melton to serve him, Goode said.

On June 23, Goode filed for an emergency petition based on neighbors’ concerns for him. Goode said she knows Melton to be a prideful person and, walking around in dirty clothes like people said he was, screamed something was wrong. The judge denied her request due to Melton’s history of drug use.

“When she said that to me, I started crying in the court in front of everybody,” Goode said. “I walked away feeling defeated.”

What led to Dontae Melton’s death

Around 9:40 p.m. on June 24, Melton, who police said was having a mental health crisis, approached Baltimore police officers at the intersection of Franklintown Road and West Franklin Street and asked them for help.

According to a 911 dispatch call, officers said Melton was irate and believed someone was chasing him. Officers called for a medic to transport him to a hospital.

To keep him out of the street, officers detained the man in handcuffs and leg shackles. By 10:12 p.m., officers reiterated their need for a medic, reporting that the man was unconscious. By 10:27, seeing that no medic had arrived, officers took the man to the hospital.

According to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, whose Independent Investigations Division is looking into his death, he died just after 3 a.m. June 26.

Who was Dontae Melton?

Goode raised Melton and his sister in West Baltimore. He grew up loving baseball and bowling and was raised understanding the value of family through her and his dad. Goode believes this made Melton a better father to his 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.

As a licensed clinician, Goode worked at Forest Park High School, from which Melton graduated, to keep an eye on him. Goode said Melton was caring, helpful and handy and was deeply loved by many.

“If my son were here with me today right now — my car needs to be cleaned — he would clean it inside and out for me,” Goode said.

According to Goode, Melton was diagnosed with a non-specific mood disorder around the age of 21. He also struggled with seizures, she said, and took medicine that was suitable to treat both.

Goode said she isn’t exactly sure when substance abuse became a problem for Melton. She said he often tried to hide his lifestyle from her because he didn’t want to disappoint her.

In addition to his medications, Goode ensured that Melton had access to a therapist. Goode said he would relapse, and family could always tell when he was off. Melton would often check himself into rehab, with his most recent stint at a center in Crownsville, to get back on track, Goode said.

‘He’s given me an assignment’

As Goode prepares for her son’s funeral services on Saturday, she still has questions for investigators concerning protocol in these situations and about her son’s final hours alive.

According to Mayor Brandon Scott, the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system Baltimore Police uses failed the night Melton encountered police. A medic never came. Police are investigating the cause of the system’s collapse. Officials have not released information about the officers involved in Melton’s death or officers’ body cam footage, nor have they identified him as the man who died.

The circumstances and the unanswered questions surrounding her son’s death have been frustrating for Goode, but they’ve propelled her into a mission. She hopes Melton’s death is not in vain, but propels change in the city where she was born and raised.

Goode said she hopes this leads to improvements in mandatory mental health training and to backup plans in place in case dispatch systems malfunction.

“I could see him looking at him with a smirk on my face, ‘What are you going to do now, Goode?’ He’s given me an assignment,” she said. “And I accept it.”