Legislation in Maryland would change how police conducts welfare checks after death of lawmaker's son

A Maryland state delegate who says a communication problem created a delay as she tried to get help for her son in Richmond in 2021 wants to change how police conduct welfare checks.

“This was a life-threatening emergency that turned out to be a fatality,” said Del. Jamila Woods, D-Prince George’s County.

She says she instinctively knew something was horribly wrong when she couldn’t reach her son, 34-year-old Gabriel Woods. He suffered with life-threatening seizures and hadn’t answer his phone or gone to work.

From Prince George’s County, Woods says she tried desperately to get police to check on him at his Richmond apartment.

“Richmond was very happy to do a welfare check, however they had to have permission from Prince George’s County, which ultimately they never received,” she said.

She says Richmond police told her because she was calling from another state, she had to get Prince George’s County police to verify the call, which guards against false calls.

“That’s all they had to do was say, ‘Yes, it’s fine, go and do a welfare check,’ and that never happened,” Woods said.

Instead, police officers showed up at her home in Clinton and asked her questions, she said.

“The officer actually said, you know, threatened to get a psychiatric response team to come out for me because at this point, I’m losing it because I’m saying this has been since this morning and no one has gone to do a welfare check,” she said.

She said her son’s ex-girlfriend, who lived in the Richmond area, eventually got police to make the check about 6 p.m. that day. Gabriel Woods was found dead, having suffered a seizure and hit his head, his mother says. She did not recall exactly what time she called police but said hours had passed.

“My son died unreasonably,” she said. “It was just a matter of doing a welfare check.”

Richmond police said in that situation, the department would need Prince George’s County police to send a teletype, or message, verifying the call from Woods – a process that takes a matter of minutes.

Woods says she called 911 in Prince George’s County and the district station in Clinton to try to get someone to call Richmond. Richmond police say they never received the teletype.

It’s unclear why the welfare check was not requested.

Woods is sponsoring Gabriel’s Law in the Maryland General Assembly, which would provide clear guidance on how to handle out-of-state welfare checks so precious time isn’t lost.

“In her case, her son, his life could have been spared,” said Anthony Muse, D-Prince George’s County, who cosponsors the legislation.

Woods says the law is one thing she can do to help others trying to get help for a loved one having a medical emergency.

Prince George’s County police say, according to its records, Woods called 911 at 5:51 p.m. requesting the welfare check. Woods says she called much earlier than that.

The department says everyone involved in the call for service followed proper protocols.

A county spokesperson says the county supports the legislation, which passed in the House and is pending in the Senate.