Michigan man with court-ordered mental health care found with knife in Detroit

Travis Moultrie, a homeless man from Saginaw County, was taken into custody in downtown Detroit on October 5 after being seen wielding a large knife near the Greyhound bus station. Police discovered that Moultrie had been ordered by a judge into psychiatric treatment just two weeks prior, yet he was found in Wayne County rather than his home county.

Over the past six years, police reports document 36 different interactions with Moultrie across four agencies, including 20 reports of threatening behavior and 12 references to knives. Caleb Rowell, director of public safety for Bay City, stated that his officers have encountered Moultrie at least 100 times, noting that despite arrests and petitions, he often returns to the streets without adequate services.

Moultrie’s father, Rayshon Moultrie, said his son’s mental health struggles have been compounded by alcoholism and that multiple hospitalizations have failed to provide a lasting solution. Kevin Fischer, president of the Michigan Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the state’s resources for severe mental illness are insufficient, leaving families and police to wonder what will happen before the system changes.

Read the full story at wxyz.com.