Dead man’s mother tries bridge jump

Lusby man drowned in May

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The body of Demetris Lamarr Hall, 26, of Lusby was found floating in Lake Lariat in the Chesapeake Ranch Estates neighborhood May 5. Tate reported him missing May 3, the day after he fled into the woods near his home to evade deputies investigating a noise complaint, according to police. At least one police officer briefly chased him into the forest before giving up.

Hall had outstanding unpaid child support, according to police.

According to Tate’s sister, Jennifer Thomas, and her daughter, Tania Tate, Martha Tate was tormented by unanswered questions about her son’s death.

‘‘It’s a lot of loose ends. They wouldn’t let us see the body or identify the body or anything. They didn’t allow me to see it. I’m his aunt,” Thomas said. ‘‘... Being a mother [myself], and recalling all this, it’s got to hurt. Because that’s something you brought into the world. This [suicide attempt] is not her. She is sweet and loving.”

On July 7, hours before the suicide attempt, Tate waded into Lake Lariat in an attempt to understand what had happened to Hall. Later that day, she tried to jump off of the bridge, which links Solomons to St. Mary’s County, but was restrained by law enforcement officers from Calvert and St. Mary’s counties, the family said.

She was then taken to Calvert Memorial Hospital in Prince Frederick by a police cruiser.

Before the suicide attempt, Thomas was driving across the bridge with Tate as a passenger, with Tavia Tate driving another car following behind, they said. Thomas slowed down after her sister opened the car door. Martha Tate then jumped out of the car while it was still moving and ran to the edge of the bridge, with Thomas and other family members running after her.

Tate was distressed because she had not yet received an autopsy report for Hall, although she had received a call from an unknown official stating that his death had been ruled an accidental drowning, family members said. A receptionist at the Maryland Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Baltimore confirmed the finding on Monday but said the full report was not ready for release.

Tate had also learned that pictures of her son’s corpse were circulating by text message and on the Internet, her family said. Tate’s niece, Tytiana Thomas, provided a text message to a reporter that included a picture of what appears to be a corpse floating face-down in water, along with text describing it as a picture of a man who had drowned in Lake Lariat

Tate was also upset by what she and her family feel was a sluggish response by law enforcement to her son’s disappearance and death, they said. Thomas said that, after he was reported missing, the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office refused to assist in the search because Hall was not mentally handicapped, elderly or a child, and that Tate and other family members searched the woods near their home during the weekend with little help from deputies.

After reportedly hearing a splash, deputies ‘‘didn’t even go and search the water. That’s what got my mother the most,” Tavia Tate said.

The sheriff’s office reported at that time that deputies searched the area for Hall with the help of the Special Operations Team and members of the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department, but found no trace of him.

Divers did not search the lake because the deputies had no reason to believe he had drowned, said Sheriff Mike Evans at the time.

On Monday, Assistant Sheriff Tom Hejl declined to comment on the suicide attempt, saying it was being investigated by the Maryland State Police.

Lt. Homer Rich of the Maryland State Police said there will not be a press release issued on the suicide attempt out of respect for the family.

‘‘I’m glad it turned out the way it did,” Rich said. ‘‘I’m sorry she’s having these problems, I’m glad she’s getting the help she needs and that’s it.”