Baltimore, Maryland — The mother of a 16-year-old Maryland foster child who died after seven weeks living alone in a Baltimore hotel room has filed a federal wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Wes Moore, former state human services leaders, a state contractor and Marriott International. The complaint, filed Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleges that every party responsible for the girl knew she needed a treatment placement and left her in a hotel instead.
What the lawsuit says happened
According to the complaint, as reported by The Daily Record and FOX45 News, the teen was placed at a Residence Inn by Marriott near Johns Hopkins Hospital on Aug. 4, 2025. She died there on Sept. 22, 2025. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a suicide.
The suit says she had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder and had attempted suicide before. It alleges that several residential treatment facilities declined to accept her and that her mother repeatedly warned caseworkers that she needed a treatment placement.
On the day she died, the complaint alleges, a caretaker from the state contractor Fenwick Behavioral Services was about 53 consecutive hours into a shift after a co-worker became unavailable. The suit says the caretaker skipped required hourly checks, did not secure the teen’s medication, did not know CPR and could not find a defibrillator. Her last recorded check was around 5:45 a.m. The next came after 10 a.m., when she was found unresponsive. First responders pronounced her dead at 11:01 a.m.
Who is named
The 114-page complaint names Moore in his individual capacity, former Maryland Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael López, Social Services Administration Executive Director Alger Studstill, Prince George’s County officials, Fenwick Behavioral Services, companies tied to the hotel, and Marriott International, according to FOX45. It brings 16 claims, including federal civil rights violations, negligence, wrongful death and Fair Housing Act violations, and asks for compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.
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The suit alleges that at a Sept. 10, 2025, Board of Public Works meeting, López reported that 11 foster children were living in hotels as of Sept. 5, and that Moore and López did not order emergency safety audits or protections for those children. Attorney DeMaurice Smith of Dechert LLP, one of the family’s lawyers, told CBS Baltimore the governor had emergency powers he could have used that day.
Had Governor Moore used his emergency powers that he always had on September 10th, she would be alive.
DeMaurice Smith, attorney for the family, to CBS Baltimore
The complaint also argues that Marriott, which franchises the hotel, had authority to inspect franchised properties and enforce safety standards.
Hotels are for guests, and they’re not foster homes.
Scott Lerner, Dechert LLP, attorney for the family, to CBS Baltimore
A practice the state had been barred from
Maryland entered a consent decree in 1988 that bars the state from housing foster children in hotels, motels and other unlicensed facilities, The Daily Record reported. Even so, a 2025 Office of Legislative Audits report found 280 foster children were placed in hotels in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, 82 of them for periods of three months to two years, according to the complaint as described by FOX45.
The complaint cites a separate federal lawsuit, filed in January 2023, over another Prince George’s County foster child who overdosed on unsecured medication in a motel. That case remains active.
How the state has responded
The Department of Human Services declined to comment on the allegations, citing privacy protections and the pending litigation. The department said it released all legally disclosable records in December 2025, including a child neglect finding against employees of the one-on-one service provider, and that it ended hotel placements in November 2025. The state ended its relationship with Fenwick two days after the death, The Daily Record reported. In April 2026, Moore signed a law named for the teen that created a state foster youth ombudsman.
Moore’s office referred FOX45 to the department’s statement. Marriott and Fenwick did not respond to requests for comment from FOX45. In January 2026, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office announced that no criminal charges would be filed. The family’s lawyers told CBS Baltimore they intend to subpoena Moore to answer questions under oath.
What this case shows
Maryland officials knew foster children were living in hotel rooms despite a decades-old court order barring it, and the practice ended only after a child died. The lawsuit says her mother warned caseworkers what her daughter needed and alleges no one with the power to act on those warnings did. A neglect finding against contract workers, a new law and an ombudsman’s office came afterward, and prosecutors filed no charges. FAN tracks this pattern of secrecy and missing accountability in its overview of foster care system problems.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Key facts
- A 16-year-old Maryland foster child died Sept. 22, 2025, after living alone in a Baltimore Residence Inn since Aug. 4, 2025.
- Her mother filed a 114-page federal lawsuit on Oct. 20, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
- Defendants include Gov. Wes Moore, former DHS Secretary Rafael López, Alger Studstill, Prince George’s County officials, Fenwick Behavioral Services and Marriott International.
- The suit alleges a caretaker was about 53 hours into a shift, skipped hourly checks and did not know CPR.
- A 1988 consent decree bars Maryland from housing foster children in hotels; a 2025 state audit found 280 did so in fiscal 2023 and 2024.
- The state says it ended hotel placements in November 2025; prosecutors filed no criminal charges.
- The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.
Sources
- The Daily Record — Moore, Marriott sued for alleged wrongful death in Baltimore (2026-10-21)
- FOX45 News — Mother files federal lawsuit against Moore, state officials and Marriott (2026-10-21)
- CBS Baltimore — Mother sues Maryland officials after daughter’s death in foster care, lawyers plan to subpoena Gov. Moore (2026-10-21)
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