Stein reacts to Ravenscroft teacher murder: ‘Jail is not the right place. We need to treat folks’
Gov. Josh Stein is calling on the state to do more to treat those with mental health issues that pose a risk to the public.
“We have to do a better job with this intersection between folks out there who are paranoid, they’re delusional, who can pose risks,” Stein said. “Obviously, not everybody with mental health challenges are a violent risk, but there are some who are, and we are not doing a good enough job treating those folks.”
Stein’s comments come days after Zoe Welsh, a long-time science teacher at the private Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, was killed in her home.
Police say Ryan Camacho, 36, attacked Welsh while she was on the phone with 911, after he broke into her home. Online court records show Camacho had a history of mental health challenges.
Stein called Welsh’s death “absolutely heartbreaking” noting that he has friends whose children were Welsh’s students.
“She was a remarkable teacher,” Stein said. “She shouldn’t be dead. She should be alive. She should be in school teaching today.”
According to court documents, Camacho has a lengthy criminal history going back more than a decade in both Wake and Durham counties. Court records show Camacho has been arrested more than 20 times.
In many of those cases, Camacho was either charged with a misdemeanor or the cases were dropped altogether.
Camacho’s mom, Cynthia Camacho, sought and was granted guardianship over him multiple times, citing “incompetency.” WRAL News went to her home on Monday, but she did not want to talk.
In December, breaking-and-entering charges against Camacho in a separate case were dismissed following a mental competency examination. During the hearing, prosecutors asked to have Camacho involuntarily committed. However, that request was denied by a judge, according to Wake County District Lorrin Freeman
WRAL News asked Judge Louis Meyer on Monday about the decision to deny involuntary commitment, but he did not immediately reply.
“Someone can be found not capable to proceed and yet determined that they’re not an imminent threat to themselves or others,” Freeman told WRAL News on Monday.
Stein said Tuesday that initiatives are out there to help those in need of mental health assistance.
“There are these behavioral health urgent care centers, B-HUGS, that the state is now setting up, which can be very helpful, so that if somebody is having a mental health crisis — 24/7 — they have a place to go that’s not the emergency department because that’s not the right place,” Stein said. “Jail is not the right place. We need to treat folks.”
Stein acknowledged that there’s more that can be done for those who are dealing with mental illness.
