Standing in front of a group of people inside a mental health treatment facility, James Oxley recounted the story about trying to help his then 15-year-old son — a sweet kid at home and a drug user hanging out with a bad crew while he was at school.
Oxley described the struggle of trying to get his son help, but his awareness of what he could do was limited. The places where he did turn couldn’t really provide the help.
Then, in January of 2022, it was too late.
“I’m on the computer and all I can hear is powwww powww,” said Oxley. He thought it was the television. “I look and I see my wife sit up, I hear a shot again and I see her sit back. And then I look and I see a silhouette of somebody. An image. And they turn real quick and just fired and shoot my 8-year-old twice.”
The shooter was his son. Oxley would take two bullets as well, showing the scars still on his forearm from one of them. He said his son’s face was completely expressionless during the moments he lost his wife and one child for good, and another to the justice system.
“There was nothing there,” said Oxley. “He wasn’t there. It wasn’t him.”
Cases like that are on the rise in Prince George’s County.
State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said the domestic violence homicides in the county that involved family members was more than double (15 vs. 7) the cases involving intimate partners in 2023.
“What we’re seeing is a rise in tragedies involving family members, people who are related to each other,” said Braveboy. And when calls for help are made, she said, “That’s a different conversation, that’s different resources that are needed.”
“And different protocols that are needed,” she added.
That’s prompting the launch of a new collaboration, in which 911 call takers along with local and county police officers will be provided information, and new protocols, to help victims at the time of response. The goal is to provide those victims with information about resources, which Braveboy said are often underutilized, that can help families both immediately and shortly after a situation.
“We will be training every single police agency within our county on this protocol,” she said. “The questions that are asked by the call takers will direct those who are responding on the appropriate question to ask and the appropriate interventions and services to provide.”
Printed pamphlets will be left with families to help when they’re ready for it. She also said a long term mental health treatment facility is needed in the county.
“We can no longer only rely on acute care treatment,” said Braveboy. “It’s wonderful, we need that as a stop gap. But long term, sometimes individuals cannot live safely at home. That’s the reality of it.”
But building that requires a lot of resources, which would mean not only county dollars, but also state and even federal investment.
“We need to have places for families like that, too,” said Braveboy. “They still love their family members, right? And we want to be close to them but we also don’t to be abused, or hurt, or potentially killed by them either.”
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