The contracted aide assigned to watch over a teenage girl in foster care worked more than two days without relief and did not lock up the girl’s medication before her suicide last year, failures that amount to neglect, according to a report from the Maryland Department of Human Services.

Before her death Sept. 22, Kanaiyah Ward, 16, had been living in an East Baltimore hotel for weeks under the supervision of a one-on-one aide contracted from Fenwick Behavioral Services.

Aides often function akin to babysitters, and Fenwick’s are supposed to provide 24-hour supervision, including hourly checks, and cannot sleep on the job. The company also has a policy of securing a patient’s medication in a “lock box,” according to the report.

“The neglect determination identified three individual staff members at Fenwick responsible for that neglect due to the failure to provide proper care and attention in ensuring Kanaiyah’s safety, by approving the worker to provide supervision over a continuous 53-hour shift, and by failing to ensure that medications were properly secured in the hotel,” the report stated.

In a brief interview, Fenwick Behavioral Services owner Eric Fenwick decried the “false narratives” being put forward about himself and his employees.

“Eight years I’ve been doing this work, and I’ve never had a neglect charge,” Fenwick said, the first public comments he has made since Ward’s death.

He said Ward’s death was not a result of negligence or the fact she had been staying in a hotel.

Advocates for years have sounded alarms on housing vulnerable youths — children with complex emotional needs and mental health issues and who are more difficult to place — in unlicensed settings. The human services department committed to ending the practice of using hotels and some other facilities shortly after Ward’s death, though there have been challenges in adhering to the directive.

“It was not because of a hotel,” Fenwick said. “It was because of mental health. Mental health killed Kanaiyah. I look forward to my staff being cleared of any wrongdoing.”

The Department of Human Services gives people an opportunity to appeal its findings, which Fenwick said he will do.

“I look forward to my day in court, when people can hear what really happened and how things really happened from me and my team,” Fenwick said.

Tom Doyle, an attorney for Ward’s family, said the negligence finding was “not surprising” and raises additional questions for the human services department and others.

“The fact of the matter is DHS knew they shouldn’t be using hotels at the point Kanaiyah was in one,” Doyle said.

Doyle said he anticipated filing a lawsuit against the human services department and others.

“It’s really the only way that will allow us to get all the information we need, once we have the power of subpoena and depositions.”

The human services department referred its investigative findings to Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates. His office said Friday evening it would not pursue criminal charges.

“While the evidence is insufficient to show the necessary intent to prove criminal neglect beyond a reasonable doubt, the fact remains that a vulnerable child tragically lost their life,” Bates said in a statement. “The loss of a young person to suicide is deeply troubling, and we must do everything we can as public servants to uplift and support mental health care for our most at-risk residents.”

On Sept. 20, a Fenwick Behavioral Services aide assigned to Ward was to begin a 24-hour shift at 10 a.m. Their replacement, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, called out of work because they were feeling ill, according to the human services report.

Faced with staffing difficulties, Fenwick Behavioral Services extended the original worker’s shift until 3 p.m. Sept. 22, according to the report.

Ward was staying in a suite, with a separate bedroom and bathroom away from the living area and kitchenette, according to the report. The one-on-one aide was supposed to remain in the living area while Ward slept.

At 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 22, the aide checked on Ward, who, according to the report, “responded but did not get up.” The aide had been working for nearly 44 consecutive hours at that point.

The aide, who is not named in the report, went back to check on Ward sometime after 10 a.m. She wasn’t breathing. The aide called 911, which The Banner previously reported, and emergency medical workers pronounced Ward dead at 11:01 a.m.

The medical examiner determined Ward died of diphenhydramine intoxication. Diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in Benadryl.

Ward’s mother previously told The Banner her daughter had a history of mental health issues and had previously attempted suicide.

The Prince George’s County Department of Social Services had informed Fenwick Behavioral Services that Ward’s one-on-one aides should work to “build coping strategies and lessen the risk of suicide attempts,” the report said.

The state no longer contracts aides from Fenwick Behavioral Services, which Eric Fenwick said has had an “immense” impact on his business.

The Baltimore Sun first reported on the Maryland Department of Human Services’ investigative report.

Beyond the neglect finding, the report paints a picture of a foster care system that struggled to care for Ward. She had been in state care since 2022, when a court found her parent was neither able nor willing to provide the care she needed for her immense mental health and behavioral issues.

She was then placed in a residential treatment facility under the care of Prince George’s County’s Department of Social Services. Eventually, Ward returned home for several months, but a pattern of self-harm and an eventual attempted suicide sent her back into inpatient psychiatric care.

Prince George’s County struggled to find facilities willing to take Ward in due to her behavioral history, according to the report. Her case history is full of temporary placements and inpatient stays. In August 2024, Ward was placed in an unnamed facility in Baltimore and she was enrolled at Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts that September.

But in August 2025 the facility sought to have Ward removed. Social workers were unable to find a new placement for her and ultimately placed her in the hotel. Some foster children can end up living in hotels for months, if not years, as service providers seek an appropriate placement.

Before her death, the state had Ward reevaluated to see if she qualified for additional mental health treatment. She completed the first part of her evaluation in early September.

Her follow-up appointment was scheduled for Sept. 22.

Banner reporter Jessica Calefati contributed to this article.