DETROIT – A Metro Detroit family is demanding answers from a local hospital after they said their loved one died at a mental health facility.
Trinity Tyus said her mother, Mary Cole, was admitted to Stonecrest Mental Facility in Detroit on Nov. 25. Tyus said she didn’t give them her approval and her mother died there in just 24 hours.
“My mother had a Schizophrenia disorder,” Tyus said. “She was fine. She was on medication. She was a working woman, she didn’t let that stop her.”
Tyus said she had recently noticed a change.
“The night of Nov. 25, 2019 I just noticed my mom was very emotional,” she said. “She left for work and never came back. I didn’t want her to leave."
Tyus said she filed a missing persons report. Two days later officers found her mom alive, sitting in her car on the side of I-75.
“I petitioned my mother. I talked to a social worker and I petitioned her for her to be evaluated at the DMC Hospital,” Tyus said.
Tyus said later that night she called the hospital, but staff members told her that her mother was transported to Stonecrest Mental Facility on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit.
When Tyus would call she said she was told her mother was sleeping, in group therapy, doing something, or on the phone.
“I went to go try and see her. They say I couldn’t see her. She had to put me on a list. She (said she) can’t release information to me,” Tyus said.
Tyus said Stonecrest staff members also told her one of the reasons she was denied was because she’s under the legal age.
Tyus wants to know how she can be old enough to petition her mother, but not old enough to see her.
“That makes no sense to me,” Mark Reinstein with Mental Health Association in Michigan said. “To say that because someone is 17 and may not be, or is not, a legal adult that therefore they can’t visit or talk on the phone with a parent. If that’s hospital policy at that hospital, then it’s one strange and bad policy.”
Tyus said her mother was taken by ambulance from Stonecrest to St. John’s Hospital and when the hospital contacted Tyus, she went to see her mom.
“I didn’t know what to do. She was only 44 years old. She said she had a seizure, but I didn’t believe it,” Tyus said.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of death is pending.
“I just pray God gives me a sign. Give me something because I can’t take this pain,” Tyus said.
Local 4 reached out to Stonecrest, but has not heard back.
Local 4 also reached out to the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department. They couldn’t comment on individual cases, but did note that there have been numerous complaints filed against Stonecrest in the past three years.
There were 10 complaints in 2017, 11 in 2018 and 12 in 2019. LARA is looking into this matter.
The family is collecting funds for funeral expenses. If you want to donate, click this link.
