CLEVELAND — It's been one year since Maalik Roquemore was fatally shot by a Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority police officer during an altercation that occurred at the Village of Riverside Park. Now, as his family seeks justice, they're also seeking to raise awareness for mental and behavioral health to prevent this type of incident from occurring again.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Maalik's mother Kimberly said that there's a lot to know about her son.
"He was a CSU honors student. He had a low GPA of 3.85 and the highest was a 3.96. And he was in his third year of being in behavioral health because he wanted to reach back out to his community to help others," she said.
His interest in the field came because he himself lived with mental health conditions. His mother said Maalik was diagnosed with high-functioning schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Those cognitive and behavioral conditions triggered a crisis on September 5, 2022.
That night, Maalik was outside of his townhome while a CMHA police officer patrolled the area. Maalik flagged the officer down and police said that's when an attack happened.
“As [the officer is] getting out the vehicle, he opens the door and all of a sudden the male that was flagging him down starts running towards him and literally starts punching him," CMHA Police Chief Andy Gonzalez said last year.
The officer quickly deployed a taser, but when the altercation continued, seconds later, the officer pulled his gun. As Maalik ran, turned, and headed back towards the officer, two shots were fired.
Maalik was hit and died in front of his home.
The Roquemore family said that Maalik was having a mental health crisis and needed someone to de-escalate the situation without the use of deadly force. While they can't bring Maalik back, the family is now honoring his life in a way that aims to spread awareness.
The Maalik Amir Roquemomre Foundation, P.E.A.C.E., has a main goal: Promote empathy and compassion, especially.
Kimberly is hopeful that through the foundation, they can work to open dialogue around mental and behavioral health, especially within Black and brown communities—but also promote awareness and, in turn, education for law enforcement officers.
"When law enforcement encounters someone who is signaling distress, to look at them with human eyes. We are all human, we bleed the same blood. And to promote peace and help to get that person to the hospital if that's what's necessary. And then in a couple of days they'll come back and thank you for saving their lives," Kimberly said.
Through the new foundation, the Roquemore family, friends, and supporters hope that they can save lives.
"That's what this is all about, for police officers to call for tactical units back up when needed, just to be able to help and save lives so that someone can come back and thank them, like a firefighter," Kimberly said. "When they show up within minutes to save lives, they see smoke and lives to be saved. Police officers need to do the same thing. Show up and see that there's lives to protect and to save—not take."
With last year's shooting currently under investigation, Kimberly and the Roquemore family want justice for Maalik—but most importantly, want to create positive change.
"At this point, the investigation is still pending. And I'm looking forward to justice, transparency, accountability, and, most importantly, to educate law enforcement to pause for a second to possibly save lives. They say they only have a second to save their own lives—they also have a second to save someone else's. And that's the important thing. That's what's most important," Kimberly said.
