Mother of foster teen who died in hotel sues Gov. Wes Moore, Marriott chain

The mother of a foster teen who died alone last year in a Baltimore hotel has filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit against Gov. Wes Moore, former Maryland Secretary of Human Services Rafael López, the Marriott hotel chain and others claiming their negligence cost a vulnerable girl her life.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney’s fees.

Neither Moore, López nor Marriott immediately responded to a request for comment.

For weeks before her death in September 2025, 16-year-old Kanaiyah Ward of Prince George’s County had been living in East Baltimore’s Residence Inn under the supervision of a one-on-one aide, according to an investigative report from the Maryland Department of Human Services earlier this year. She died after ingesting over-the-counter medication a Fenwick Behavioral Services employee contracted by the state failed to properly secure, the report said.

A federal consent decree has long prohibited Maryland from housing foster youth in unlicensed settings like offices and hotels, but the state’s child welfare agency had used those placements when others were tough to find. Kanaiyah’s mother, Brooke Ward, told The Banner last year that she had questioned the decision to place her in that hotel and said the agency knew her daughter had attempted suicide more than once.

“Every institution with a hand in Kanaiyah’s care knew what she needed, and every one of them failed her,” Ward’s lawsuit states. “This case is about the breadth of that failure — a failure that ran from the Governor’s office in Annapolis to Marriott’s headquarters in Bethesda.”

The complaint includes more than three dozen defendants, named and unnamed, the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services, and Fenwick Behavioral Services, which employed the aide who supervised Kanaiyah.

One-on-one aides for foster youths often function like babysitters. Fenwick’s were supposed to provide 24-hour supervision, including hourly checks, and cannot sleep on the job, according to the Department of Human Services report. State investigators determined that Kanaiyah’s aide worked more than two days without relief, a failure that amounts to neglect.

Fenwick Behavioral Services owner Eric Fenwick said in an interview Wednesday that he is sad and sorry — for himself and for the people who love Kanaiyah — that the circumstances of her death are being relitigated.

“A young child took their life, and everyone wants to blame everyone,” he said. “I look forward to fighting this with the same vigor I fought the first time.”

He said he appealed the state’s determination that his aide had neglected Kanaiyah.

“We did the best we could, with the information we had, to take care of that child,” he said. “I’m praying people’s pain and hurt can one day subside.”

The lawsuit alleges that López named eliminating hotel placements as a top reform priority for the Moore administration and acknowledged in testimony before the state Senate that such settings “are not appropriate” for youths in foster care.

But only after Kanaiyah’s death did the state order the relocation of every child living in a hotel.

Lilly Price, a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services, declined to comment on the litigation because of privacy protections. The state is prohibited by law from releasing information about children in the foster care system.

Price touted the Moore administration’s partnership with the Maryland General Assembly last year on Kanaiyah’s Law, which aims to strengthen the state’s child welfare system.

“We remain committed to strengthening and reforming child welfare in Maryland and will not rest until every child in our state is safe, thriving in a permanent home, and surrounded by a loving family,” Price said in a statement.

Kanaiyah’s mother is represented by a team of attorneys led by DeMaurice Smith, a former federal prosecutor and former executive director of the NFL Players Association. He is a cousin of Kanaiyah’s grandfather and had known her since she was born.

“We’re going to get answers that nobody has been able to get,” said Scott Lerner, another attorney representing Brooke Ward.

“We’re coming for these people,” he added. “We’re coming.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Lilly Price's name.