For years, state and local officials have known about this shadow network of unlicensed care homes, where older and disabled Marylanders often end up in exchange for their Social Security or disability checks. Lawyers have called it “trafficking,” benefit exploitation and outright neglect.

A Spotlight on Maryland investigation found that state and local agencies have repeatedly failed to shut down dozens of known unlicensed facilities, allowing an underground industry to flourish in Baltimore’s neighborhoods. Hundreds of emergency calls, thousands of documents, and interviews with lawyers, families, caregivers, and business owners reveal a grim pattern: people in their final years left to die in squalor while government agencies look away again and again.

The Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) — the Maryland Department of Health agency responsible for monitoring and licensing the state’s health care facilities — said it takes “appropriate action” to protect seniors, but acknowledged that despite hundreds of complaints since October 2023, it has sent one referral for prosecution to shut down unlicensed assisted living facilities (ALFs). Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office separately confirmed that it received one.

That one referral was in August 2024. OHCQ and the AG’s office said zero complaints were referred for prosecution in 2025.

This Spotlight on Maryland investigative series will expose how government failures have built an economy of exploitation — and who profits, who enables it, and who allows the state’s seniors to be ignored behind closed doors.

Here’s an overview of Spotlight on Maryland’s findings, which will be reported in depth in the coming weeks and months.

A crisis in plain sight

The investigation began when Spotlight on Maryland noticed a pattern: repeated 911 calls to the same Baltimore addresses for elderly residents in distress. Many of the calls involved unrelated seniors of different ages and genders living at the same locations — properties that were not listed as licensed assisted living facilities.

A trail of government records, lawsuits and nearly 500 hours of fieldwork revealed a system that appears to be operating outside the law. Emergency responders frequently filed complaints with OHCQ detailing unlicensed assisted living facilities operating unchecked.

The complaints described strangers living together in cramped rowhouses, seniors left unwashed and unfed, and residents packed into bedrooms so crowded they violated city occupancy limits.

Maryland Legal Aid, a nonprofit law firm serving low-income residents, warned lawmakers in March 2023 that state protections for seniors and disabled adults were dangerously inadequate.

“It’s no secret that unlicensed ALFs engage in human and/or benefits trafficking, using coercion, deception, threats or other means to traffic a victim, moving them from one facility to another for the additional purpose of appropriating their benefits, such as Social Security Retirement, Food Stamps (SNAP), or other benefits,” the law firm said in its 2023 written testimony.

Those with low or no income are especially vulnerable to such exploitation because “they often have nowhere else to go,” Maryland Legal Aid said.

A licensed assisted living facility in Maryland costs about $4,000 per month, according to Maryland Legal Aid. Unlicensed operators charge far less — sometimes between $600 to $1,000 — creating an illicit market that preys on those least able to protect themselves, according to Spotlight on Maryland’s investigation.

There have also been federal warnings. An 81-page study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2015 during the Obama administration said “unlicensed care homes appear to be widespread in some areas within some states.”

“They are commonly run in single family residences, but also were reported to operate inside buildings that had been schools or churches,” the HHS study said. “Although some … informants provided a few examples of unlicensed care homes where residents receive what they categorized as good care, it appears that abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of these vulnerable residents is commonplace.”

The HHS report highlighted a handful of states, including Maryland, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In Maryland, federal researchers found that there may have been 78 unlicensed care homes serving more than 400 individuals in one county.

A separate federal report around the same time period estimated 370 to 400 beds in unlicensed assisted living facilities in Anne Arundel County.

Government documents show suffering

The suffering is laid bare in OHCQ complaints obtained by Spotlight on Maryland.

In one case, Baltimore police discovered a 74-year-old man who had been missing for four days, his body covered in maggots, found beneath a bush outside a suspected unlicensed home in Lake Walker.

In West Baltimore’s Forest Park neighborhood, officers found a 77-year-old male inside an alleged unlicensed ALF, lying in a hospital bed, unresponsive and “covered in a copious amount of dried feces.”

“[He] also [had] a large piece of what appeared to be an adult diaper in [his] mouth with feces present,” an emergency responder reported to OHCQ.

In yet another incident, a 60-year-old woman managed to call for help only after fighting to retrieve her cellphone from an alleged unlicensed ALF manager. Inside the ambulance, she told responders she could no longer urinate without severe burning and struggled to walk.

Spotlight on Maryland asked Rafael Lopez, secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Services, what his agency is doing to aid vulnerable adults living in unlicensed facilities. Lopez’s agency oversees Adult Protective Services.

“I’m not familiar with the specific question you’re asking,” Lopez said. “When any case comes to our attention of any kind of abuse of an adult, we act urgently and we make sure we treat that adult with the respect and dignity that they deserve.”

Despite Lopez saying his team would provide data on the number of contacts and referrals made from individuals living in unlicensed ALFs, his office did not supply that information and said the department does not categorize complaint data by setting.

The systemic cycling of elderly adults with nowhere to go

Each emergency visit to an area hospital triggers the same bureaucratic system: After treatment, hospitals scramble to find placement for what professionals call “complex cases.”

Some individuals — overwhelmingly elderly, Black, disabled and poor — are cycled from emergency rooms to unlicensed homes, then back again. Many suffer from dementia, Alzheimer’s, terminal cancer or substance use disorders.

Lawyers, health care workers, and family members described an unbroken loop in which hospitals discharge patients because they need the beds, and nobody checks where they end up.

In one case, Christina Talley said she called police for a welfare check after learning that her 69-year-old sister, who has Lewy body dementia, was left alone by home care professionals. Her sister — whom Talley asked not to name — had previously set her home on fire by accident because of her memory loss.

Talley said her sister later spent about four months at a Johns Hopkins hospital as doctors worked to determine the best medication and treatment plan for her complex condition. Eventually, a meeting was held between hospital staff and family members to discuss her sister’s long-term care.

Talley said she felt she had no choice when the hospital informed her family that her sister needed to be moved.

The government “needs to advocate for the aging,” Talley said. “There has to be laws, and rules, and regulations — a deep dive into how the aging system is being run and put them [the seniors] first instead of the bottom line, the money.”

Talley said the ongoing cycle between hospitals, residential placement organizations, and both licensed and unlicensed assisted living facilities has taken a toll on her sister and the entire family, with no clear end in sight.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins hospitals acknowledged Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about Talley’s experience and allegations but did not respond before publication.

‘I take it one day at a time’

George “Bobby” Gilliam, 62, is one of many older Marylanders with nowhere else to go. Standing outside a Garrison Boulevard building in early October, he described his living situation to Spotlight on Maryland.

“I pay $765 a month for rent … I can stay here as long as I can pay my rent,” Gilliam said. “They give medication, they send you to the day program. Right now, I’m trying to get food stamps.”

Gilliam’s brother, Frank Clark, said their family has struggled for years to find him adequate care and support. Speaking from his car outside his elderly parents’ home in Sumter, South Carolina, Clark said both parents — now in their 80s and hospitalized —have been desperate to ensure Gilliam is safe. Clark said his brother has a history of drug addiction and is vulnerable to exploitation.

“You’ve been there. You’ve seen the area. It’s the worst place in the world you could put them type of people because they’re susceptible to everything around,” Clark said. “I know this is his second, maybe third go around with them. They had a smaller house the first time. I think they still got that same house, I’m not sure.”

Although a staff member said the building’s residents are fed, Gilliam said he was still waiting for government assistance to supplement what he had in his apartment — a bag of rice and some water.

“At the end of the day, a long day, I pray, I just pray, and I sit back and I be quiet,” Gilliam said. “It gives me a peace of mind, and I go to a quiet place, a little quiet area, and I pray to God and Jesus Christ, and I take it one day at a time — that’s all I can do.”

His situation underscores a growing crisis in Maryland: Older residents with limited income or health challenges often end up in various housing settings with little oversight, but which fill a gap no one else will.

‘We take people 24 hours a day’

Gilliam lives in a building operated by Daquan Thomas, who identified himself to Spotlight on Maryland as founder of Aim to Inspire Care Forever Limited, a nonprofit running a multistory building on Garrison Boulevard in Walbrook Junction. He calls his business “supportive housing.”

“I would say one of our biggest supporters would be LifeBridge Health,” Thomas said. “They really don’t believe in, you know, putting people out on the streets, so, if anything, they’ll contact us. We take people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

LifeBridge Health confirmed to Spotlight on Maryland that it has a business relationship with Thomas’ organization, claiming it partners for “medical respite care.” When asked to define the partnership and what qualifies as an appropriate discharge to Thomas’s organization, LifeBridge Health’s spokesperson Sharon Boston responded, saying, “We have no further comment.”

Brian Mullen, a spokesperson for the University of Arizona Global Campus — the school that acquired and rebranded Ashford University in 2020 — said that Thomas, who claimed to hold a doctorate in health care administration from Ashford University, took only one course in 2010 and never graduated.

Mullen added that Thomas was enrolled in a bachelor’s program in human resources.

Spotlight on Maryland emailed Thomas about the discrepancy. Thomas was also questioned about his active $1.7 million lawsuit against his nonprofit and Gilliam’s claims of verbal abuse.

“[S]hut your mouth find factual information you are working for my landlord and my attorneys will be in contact with your company,” Thomas said in an emailed response. “My Ph. D [sic] is from a university you ask me which school I went to I advised you one of the many because your [sic] a snake in the grass working for the devil get a real story Gary as your time at your current company will end very soon.”

Court filings show multiple bankruptcy cases for Thomas spanning 15 years and a $1.7-million judgment for unpaid rent at his Garrison Boulevard property, where Thomas said he has also struggled to pay energy bills. Bankruptcy filings show that Thomas claimed to have earned income only from working in retail for the prescription eyeglass industry.

In July 2024, Thomas applied to be a nonprofit, and last month he told Spotlight on Maryland he has applied to receive state and local taxpayer funds.

“We’ve applied for multiple grants and federal funding,” Thomas said. “[W]e still haven’t gotten any type of, you know, help, unfortunately — but it is what it is. We’re still making it happen, you know, we have the hospitals that we work with who, you know, make private donations to the nonprofit.”

Thomas described the services the Garrison Boulevard location offers.

“Typically, it just depends on the client,” Thomas said. “If the client needs assistance with medication management, if the client needs assistance with light housekeeping, if the client needs trips back and forth to appointments, anything of that nature.”

The property’s owner, 211 W Garrison, LLC, has filed for receivership, alleging Thomas is illegally running an assisted living facility. Despite the legal troubles, Thomas claimed to be serving individuals living in 38 units in the building and between 200 and 400 people — most poor, disabled, struggling with mental illness, or battling addiction — since he started operating Maryland facilities in 2018.

But as the legal battle continues, residents like Gilliam are living in a last resort, paying rent to an operator who is being sued for allegedly failing to pay his rent, potentially putting their housing at risk.

‘Nobody’s noticing’

Spotlight on Maryland requested interviews with LifeBridge Health and Johns Hopkins, both identified by multiple sources as hospitals that outsource some discharge placements to third-party operators. Neither institution agreed to an interview.

“[Assisted living] facilities need to be licensed and monitored,” said Arthur Drager, outside counsel for Johns Hopkins hospitals and other Maryland hospital systems. “It’s not a matter of only getting a license. Someone or some entity needs to oversee and stop in, unannounced, in facilities, to see what is actually going on.”

Ellen Jordan “EJ” Hammann, a partner with the Baltimore medical malpractice firm Brown and Barron, said that those inside licensed and unlicensed facilities caring for seniors are not the only ones keeping silent. Seniors often won’t — or can’t — advocate for themselves.

“Our elderly population tends to be quiet, especially when they’re ill. They’re not making a lot of noise,” Hammann said. “What we have is a quiet generation slowly slipping away, and nobody’s noticing.”

Drager, the outside counsel for Johns Hopkins, said he “probably” has seen instances of seniors placed in an unlicensed ALF in his career after hospital discharge. Without naming the hospital, the elder care attorney for medical institutions said a guardianship client of his was shipped one day to an old farmhouse in Delaware.

When Drager arrived with hospital attorneys, he said he saw approximately half a dozen seniors sitting in a living room around a television set.

“I took this woman outside, with the attorney from the hospital,” Drager said. “She had bruises on her arms, she was frightened of the people who had the facility, and we let her know we were not going to leave without her.”

Hammann said lawyers who work on elder neglect and elder abuse talk about the absence of care. “And I think it is sometimes akin to warehousing. It’s like you’re renting a storage unit, you sign a contract, you put boxes in a storage unit, and you forget about them.”

Even as the crisis and the number of unlicensed facilities multiply, state lawmakers are considering loosening regulations. One bill introduced during the 2025 session would expand Medicaid funding for long-term rentals, a step advocates say could blur the line between supportive housing and unlicensed care homes.

In written testimony, Johns Hopkins said of the proposed Maryland expansion: “There are real benefits to providing this service, we know first-hand.”

A law with no enforcement

State Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office in 2023 pushed for legislative changes to make it a felony to operate an unassisted living facility. Two years ago, the Maryland General Assembly — at the request of Attorney General Brown — made operating an unlicensed assisted living facility a felony. The law had overwhelming bipartisan support and the backing of advocates for older adults.

“One thing has become clear … unlicensed assisted living facilities are hotbeds for the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable victims who cannot speak for or protect themselves,” said W. Zak Shirley and Lisa Hyle Marts, leaders in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the attorney general’s office, in a March 30, 2023, memo. “By virtue of remaining unlicensed, these facilities operate in the shadows – enriching their unscrupulous owners/operators by taking advantage of people in desperate need of assistance.”

At the time, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said the city’s health department knew of 80 unlicensed ALFs. That estimate has increased by nearly 50% over the past two years, based on counts now tracked by local and state agencies.

In a March 2023 letter to the state House Health and Government Operations Committee, the Mayor’s Office of Government Relations acknowledged “multiple complaints” about unlicensed assisted living facilities, citing financial, physical and psychological abuse, resident neglect, inadequate food for residents, mismanagement of their medications, and theft of their financial benefits.

Nearly three years later, the city declined to answer Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about unlicensed assisted living facilities. A city spokesperson said the request for information would be “handled by the Office of Health Care Quality — within the Maryland Department of Health — as they are responsible for licensing and regulating assisted living facilities, residential service agencies and nurse referral agencies.”

The Maryland Department of Health said it takes “appropriate actions” to combat unlicensed ALFs, including cease and desist letters, fines, and referrals to the attorney general for prosecution. A department spokesperson estimated receiving eight to 10 complaints per month about unlicensed facilities — consistent with a 2023 Health Department letter showing about 120 allegations investigated annually.

Spotlight on Maryland has filed a public records request with OHCQ to learn more about the complaints and referral process.

“OHCQ works closely with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) within the Office of the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute these unlicensed programs,” said the 2023 letter from former Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott.

Yet Brown’s office confirmed that no prosecutions have been brought under the new law since it took effect in October 2023.

Brown’s office said it received one criminal referral in August 2024 for a suspected unlicensed assisted living facility in Anne Arundel County. Jennifer Donelan, the AG’s spokesperson, said the office “declined to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.”

Privately, government officials have met about what they call a growing unlicensed ALF crisis, according to senior government officials not authorized to speak to the media. The same leaders who championed the 2023 legislation have failed to enforce it, overwhelmed by the growing number of aging Marylanders in need and the lack of legitimate housing alternatives.

Have you experienced or have direct knowledge about unlicensed assisted living facilities operating in Maryland? Do you have a tip related to this story? Reach Gary Collins at gmcollins@sbgtv.com or contact Spotlight on Maryland’s hotline at (410) 467-4670.  Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C.

Police officers found a man with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead by staff.

Detectives are investigating the shooting. Anyone with information can call 410-396-2100.

Have a news tip? Contact Chevall Pryce at cpryce@baltsun.com.

Barnes was charged in September in Montgomery County District Court after he allegedly flooded a Silver Spring baseball field over the summer with Montgomery County Fire Capt. Christopher Reilly. Both were charged with malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct.

Reilly was acquitted Friday; charges against Barnes were dropped the same day.

“[Barnes] probably should’ve never been charged in the first place,” said Richard A. Finci, a lawyer who represents Barnes. “This whole thing has been blown out of proportion.”

Barnes was reinstated at the Reese & Community Volunteer Fire Company, but remains on nonpublic-contact status at the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service while it conducts an internal investigation, Peter Piringer, the public information officer in Montgomery, told the Carroll County Times.

There is no particular time frame for the Montgomery internal investigation, Piringer said.

Finci said the charges were dropped after he presented evidence to the State’s Attorney’s Office that proved Barnes wasn’t present when the field was getting flooded.

A complaint filed to police says Reilly and Barnes “deliberately and maliciously sprayed” water onto the outfield at Blair Baseball Stadium around 5:35 p.m. July 17. Reilly told police his actions were out of “frustration” due to baseballs repeatedly hitting vehicles parked at the fire station, according to charging documents.

Video provided to police showed Barnes parking the fire truck, removing the hose and hooking it up to a fire hydrant, according to the charging documents. Reilly then activated the water hose and aimed it at the field for about three minutes.

Finci said Barnes was following his captain’s orders before receiving a call and going inside the station. He came back to find Reilly spraying the field, Finci said.

The fire station is behind the left field fence of the stadium, where the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League play. The team was scheduled to play a 7 p.m. game, but it was canceled due to the flooded field.

In the charging documents, Thunderbolts founder Richard O’Connor told police: “We lost substantial income due to the cancellation of the game and the disruption to our end-of-season league schedule.” Fans were refunded for the canceled game.

O’Connor declined to comment while the litigation was pending and could not be reached about the dropped charges and acquittal.

Since it is a “smaller baseball field,” the college players were “bashing home runs” during batting practice, Finci said. There had been pleas in the past for raised nets after balls repeatedly hit fire department property.

During Reilly’s trial, it was revealed that rain from the previous night had threatened the game before the flooding, Finci said.

Have a news tip? Contact Brendan Nordstrom at bnordstrom@baltsun.com or at 443-900-1353.

“Crews continue to monitor homes and businesses in the area and have found no hazard,” Baltimore County Fire said in a post on X.

The high-pressure gas leak was expected to spread the odor of the gas around the area.The fire department said the risk of danger was low due to high ventilation by the wind.

Rushing sound of a high pressure natural gas leak in #Reisterstown as BGE crews work to secure the leak. #NoInjuries pic.twitter.com/EloXvZjmB3

— Baltimore County Fire Department (@BaltCoFire) November 11, 2025

Have a news tip? Send it to cpryce@baltsun.com.

“Tragic, ridiculous, I mean, we need to do better,” Baltimore County Councilman Pat Young said.

One teenage victim was injured during the incident after another teen was accused of assaulting that person with a screwdriver. Three of the teens taken into custody are accused of committing second-degree assault and robbery.

The fourth teen, who is accused of committing a first-degree assault, has been charged with attempted murder.

“Our police department was on it quickly,” Councilman Mike Ertel said.

While County Council members acknowledge police have been working to reduce crime in the area, some said they want to see a greater presence in the area.

“In the past, we called on the Sheriff’s Office to help out,” Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka said. “And so the Sheriff’s Office helped us out on Thirsty Thursdays in Towson, and we were able to quell all of the activity there. I think we can do that again and just have greater police presence with all of our law enforcement entities.”

When it comes to long-term solutions, many council members said there needs to be more opportunities for kids and teens to be engaged in the community in a positive way.

“We need to support our police so that one, we can manage and also provide opportunities for children that live here in Baltimore County, but also recognize that folks come from all over the place, especially to a hub that has a transit hub, and that we need to be ever-vigilant to make sure that we’re having a presence that folks don’t feel they can get away with something,” Young added.

“It’s certainly troubling; young people need to have more productive things to do,” Patoka said. “We as the government of Baltimore County have to elevate what we’re doing to make sure that we can provide some preventive measures before it even starts.”

Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones echoed those sentiments in a statement:

“I have been in close communication with law enforcement about any additional steps needed to protect residents at the mall. Mall management must also be a stronger partner in maintaining a safe environment, including fully enforcing common-sense curfews and to prevent unwanted juvenile activity. At the same time, we need to keep investing in the long-term solutions that reduce these incidents in the first place: jobs, recreation opportunities, and positive outlets that keep young people engaged and out of trouble.”

County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s office released a statement, calling the incident “unacceptable” and thanking the police for making the arrests quickly.

“It is important that parents and caregivers actively monitor their kids’ whereabouts and behavior, hold them accountable, and ensure they are making good choices. We will continue to work closely with police, our business community and mall ownership to ensure Towson remains a place where everyone feels safe during the holiday season and beyond.”

The Baltimore County Police Department released its own statement about the incident. It said that the mall and surrounding businesses are areas of “focused enforcement efforts.” The department also stated that the area’s precinct commander meets regularly with mall security personnel. And it noted that customers 17 and younger are required to be accompanied by parents or supervising adults over the age of 21.

“The juveniles arrested over the weekend for robbery were in violation of this policy,” the statement said.

Have a news tip? Contact Jessica Babb at jessicababb@sbgtv.com.

The Horse You Came In On Saloon, located at 1626 Thames St., was the backdrop of a series of pictures shared in a now-deleted Instagram post, depicting two people dressed as Nazi soldiers and performing salutes both inside and outside the bar, captioned “The woke reich.”

The post quickly circulated on social media, with several Facebook reviews referring to The Horse You Came In On as a “Nazi bar” before reviews became disabled.

Owner Eric Mathias confirmed the visit in a Saturday Facebook post, in which he reported that “They took photos of themselves saluting, and were courteous enough to tag us and associate us with their stupidity.” He wrote that the costumed patrons have “zero connection” to the bar, adding that “it’s obvious that they came to provoke, antagonize and unfortunately heist quality oxygen that others could be using.”

“My staff is not to blame for the beliefs of these people …” reads the post. “This too will pass and the truth + forward action always win. We’re open for business, come visit us, meet my incredible people and make your own judgement.”

On Yelp as of Tuesday afternoon, reviews were temporary disabled as the company “work[ed] to investigate the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than recent events.”

Established in 1775, The Horse You Came In On is known as Baltimore’s oldest saloon, as well as the scene of the last sighting of Edgar Allan Poe.

Neither the social media user, nor representatives from The Horse You Came In On, responded to requests for comment.

On Sunday, the user reposted one of the photos, writing in her caption that Instagram had removed the original post.

Have a news tip? Contact Jane Godiner at jgodiner@baltsun.com or on Instagram as @Jane.Craves.

Court records show Eugene White, 54, of Havre de Grace, has been held without bond since his arrest in early October. When a grand jury elevated his case to the Baltimore County Circuit Court this week, they issued six counts, including neglect and reckless endangerment.

When White was taken into custody, authorities accused him of involuntary manslaughter. Monday’s indictment, however, dropped the qualifier. In Maryland, manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter carry the same maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Although the public defender’s office had signaled its intent to represent White in district court, as of Tuesday, a specific attorney was not assigned to White’s case. A spokesperson for the office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

According to charging documents, on April 25, Baltimore County Police officers and paramedics responded to a cardiac arrest reported at the Halethorpe apartment where White lived. The father reportedly told authorities that his daughter had not woken up since taking her medication the night before.

Police described different developmental and sensory issues the toddler — who was either 2 or 3, but her birthdate was redacted — suffered from, and some of the medicine she required. According to charging papers, White was her sole caretaker, and when he returned from dropping off his other daughter at school that morning, he found her “unresponsive and cold to the touch.”

Medical personnel pronounced the toddler dead about an hour after the 911 call.

An autopsy was soon conducted, and less than a week after the girl’s death, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner informed police that she had ingested methadone.

Authorities did not say that the toddler died of an overdose in charging documents but cited the cause of death as “Methadone Intoxication complicated by Influenza B Infection and Bacteremia.”

Investigators interviewed White two times, once at a hospital in Baltimore and again a couple of weeks later, according to court records. White reportedly told detectives the girl’s mother had used and sold methadone, but that “she hasn’t been at the residence for some time.”

He denied using the drug himself, according to police, but said if his daughter had methadone in her system, “he must have administered it as he is her caregiver.” According to charging documents, White said he might have used a dirty syringe to inject the girl’s medication through her feeding tube.

A few days after his daughter’s death, White consented to a drug screening from the county Department of Social Services. Police said he had tested positive for methadone and fentanyl.

As of Tuesday, his next court date had not been scheduled.

Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@baltsun.com, 410-725-6214, on X as @lparkernews or on Signal as @parkerluke.34.

Other than saying that the sudden change was “in accordance with state law,” the department did not explain on Tuesday why the officer’s status had switched, nearly two weeks after he was placed into a paid administrative role pending tandem investigations.

Maryland’s laws on officer discipline spell out certain conditions for wheich an officer can be suspended without pay. Among them is being charged with a violent crime. Other misdemeanor charges can trigger a suspension without pay as well, if they involve “dishonesty, fraud, theft, or misrepresentation,” or are committed in the performance of the officer’s police duties.

Another provision states that pending an investigation and any disciplinary proceedings, a police chief can suspend an officer with or without pay if they find doing so “is in the best interest of the public.” Those emergency suspensions can last only 30 days. The law also requires police chiefs to terminate the employment of any officer who is convicted of a felony, and allows them to fire officers convicted of certain misdemeanors.

Baltimore Police posted some of the laws governing suspensions and pay on social media in the wake of Parks’ suspension, following online outrage that he was still being paid.

“It may very well have been that [Police Commissioner Richard Worley], after reviewing the preliminary internal affairs investigation, believed that he [Parks] should be separated from the department,” said Anne Arundel County attorney Peter O’Neill, who has defended multiple first responders in criminal cases.

“It may very well have been that, and I don’t have any evidence to support this, but that [Worley] has been in contact with” city prosecutors, who may have indicated that they’re presenting the case for indictment, he said.

There were no open criminal cases filed under Parks’ name as of Tuesday afternoon.

As the video spread across social media last month, Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates vowed a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation by his office, which he said wouldn’t call Parks as a witness in other cases in the meantime. Bates’ office did not return a request for comment about Parks on Tuesday.

O’Neill, who had seen the video of Parks, said prosecutors “could certainly argue” that the act of driving a vehicle toward a person constitutes first-degree assault, a felony, if the evidence proves they had intent to cause serious bodily injury. He said “countless defendants,” like when suspects fleeing police direct their vehicle toward an officer on foot, are charged with first-degree assault under those circumstances.

“We see that constantly,”  he said.

The video recorded last month in Central Park Heights shows a group of young men speaking with Parks, with one of them stating that the officer had “no reason to stop” another. Parks, a five-year veteran of the police department, proceeds to calmly enter his car as one of the men starts to walk away down an alley.

Parks’ vehicle then turns onto the alley and accelerates, nearly striking the man as they both continue into a grassy area.

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The chase continues as Parks drives erratically through the area’s streets and sidewalks before the police vehicle is seen speeding down a dirt road and disappearing off camera. A loud crash is heard, and Parks’ vehicle is seen at a standstill atop a chain-link fence in a backyard.

The video of the chase quickly went viral, prompting Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott to call it “deeply concerning” and Worley to say it was  “not only disturbing, but alarming.”

Have a news tip? Contact Dan Belson at dbelson@baltsun.com, on X as @DanBelson_ or on Signal as @danbels.62. 

Kortlan Jackson, a spokesperson with the police department, said Tuesday that no injuries were reported in either case. He said police have not determined whether the two suspected shootings are connected.

The department has yet to identify any suspects, Jackson said.

According to a news release issued Monday by the department, Annapolis officers responded to Clay Street and Abney Lane on Sunday, just before midnight, after receiving multiple calls from residents about hearing the sound of gunshots.

Police said officers spoke with different residents in the area who confirmed hearing gunshots and seeing two men run from the area toward West Washington Street. However, police did not find any evidence of a shooting in the area.

As officers investigated the reports, police received another call just after midnight for a report of shots fired in the 700 block of Newtowne Drive, roughly 2.5 miles away from Clay Street. Jackson said a shell casing was found at the scene.

Officers also found three vehicles that appeared to be damaged from the incident, according to the news release. Police said one of the vehicles, which had a shattered windshield, was struck by gunfire.

According to the release, a black iPhone was found on the ground in the area of the reported shooting. Jackson said police are still unsure whether the phone belongs to someone who was involved.

Have a news tip? Contact Maggie Trovato at mtrovato@baltsun.com, 443-890-0601 or on X @MaggieTrovato.

Prosecutors characterized Jennifer Tinker’s crimes as an “embezzlement spree” that funded ritzy hotel stays in Las Vegas, floor tickets to Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan performances, a vacation at Disney’s Caribbean Beach resort, five vehicles and $167,000 in Amazon purchases.

In addition to sentencing her to five years and 10 months behind bars, a federal judge ordered Tinker, 42, to pay back nearly $1.2 million in restitution.

Prosecutors said she stole from the real estate firm between 2020 and 2023 while working as its market center administrator. Investigators also discovered that, after the firm uncovered the fraud and fired Tinker, she was hired as an office manager and bookkeeper at a nonprofit and embezzled an additional $100,000.

Investigators did not name the real estate agency or the nonprofit in court records. However, archives of the Keller Williams Realty Centre in Columbia website and its social media pages refer to Tinker as its market center administrator in the years leading up to her firing.

Tinker did not inform the nonprofit that she had been fired from her job at the real estate firm for embezzling funds, according to a revised plea agreement she signed earlier this year.

Tinker pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud for embezzling funds from the real estate company’s escrow, commission and operating accounts. But in February, a judge ordered Tinker to be detained after prosecutors said that she continued to steal funds from her new employer while awaiting trial, including a wire transfer on the same day as her guilty plea. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud for a second time in June.

Tinker’s defense attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Anjali Biala, did not return requests for comment on Monday and Tuesday.

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