Mother of slain man found in Schuylkill River calls for family involvement in adult mental health decisions
Mother of slain man found in Schuylkill River calls for family involvement in adult mental health decisions
A local family is searching for answers and advocating for adult mental health after the body of a loved one was pulled from the Schuylkill River last month.
PHILADELPHIA - A local family is searching for answers and advocating for adult mental health after the body of a loved one was pulled from the Schuylkill River last month.
Joshua Daywalt, 35, had a gunshot wound to the head when police recovered his body from the water near Kelly Drive on Feb. 7.
No arrests were made in the unsolved murder and authorities have since issued a $20k reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of his killer.
As the investigation into his death continues, family members are rasing awareness about the need for family involvement in adult mental health care decisions.
What we know:
Family members say Joshua faced years of mental health challenges and was living "homeless and disoriented" when his body was pulled from the Schuylkill River.
They started an online petition to "amend laws to allow family involvement in adult mental health care decisions" and have so far gathered over 1,000 signatures.
Joshua's mother, Jennifer, explained that she was able to influence her son's mental health decisions up until he was 18-years-old, when that privilege was taken away.
"Once Joshua turned 18, the aspects of his severe mental illness that impaired his ability to make rational decisions also impaired my ability to intervene in his care," she wrote on the Change.org petition.
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Jennifer joined Good Day Philadelphia on Friday and explained her son's struggles with schizophrenia, and described ways in which she was able to help stabilize her son and contact the necessary mental health experts when he was experiencing an episode.
Just under two years ago, Jenniefer explained that she involuntarily put Joshua into a hospital three times in one month. One of the times, she said, he was turned away, and the other two he was released within days.
"All of them refused to listen to me," Jennifer told Mike Jerrick and Alex Holley. "They would not listen to his history, they did not call his psychiatrist, one hospital even gave him a bus ticket."
Joshua was known to have developed "a couple different personalities" as he refused mental health treatments. Jennifer said she's unsure what personality was at play when Joshua was killed.
What they're saying:
Jennifer is using her son's tragic story to take action against a mental health advocacy system that she believes is broken.
"Every single lane to get help for somebody who is severely mentally ill…it's a labyrinth, and you hit a wall," Jennifer said.
She called on Pennsylvania lawmakers to change the current laws to allow family involvement in adult mental health care decisions.
"Some of our society's issues can be solved by helping people who are sick," Jennifer said.
What's next:
Jennifer said she's preparing to take Joshua's fight to Harrisburg to urge lawmakers to take action.
She is still searching for a state representative to join the cause.