BALTIMORE — A Maryland Department of Human Services investigation found staff members of a behavioral services company negligent in the suicide death of a 16-year-old foster girl in a Baltimore hotel room, according to a report obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public information request.

The report said Fenwick Behavioral Services assigned a single worker a shift of 53 straight hours to watch Kanaiyah Ward, despite the worker being required to stay awake and to perform hourly checks on the troubled girl.

The findings were forwarded to the Baltimore state’s attorney, “who may decide to prosecute,” the report said.

The Sun could not reach the State’s Attorney’s Office by deadline on Thursday, the New Year’s Day holiday, nor representatives of Fenwick or Kanaiyah’s family. DHS officials said confidentiality laws prevent them from providing information about the case beyond the report.

Kanaiyah died on Sept. 22 at the Residence Inn by Marriott at The Johns Hopkins Medical Campus of an intentional overdose of diphenhydramine, an antihistamine more commonly known as Benadryl, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Amid a public outcry over the death, DHS discontinued the practice of housing foster youth in hotels in November.

In its report, provided to The Sun late in the day on New Year’s Eve, DHS officials said it identified three staff members of the Towson-based Fenwick as negligent for approving such a lengthy shift — after another worker had called in sick — and for failing to lock up medications in the hotel suite.

The staff members have been notified of the investigation’s findings, the report said, and their statutory rights to appeal those findings. By Maryland family law, findings of child abuse or neglect in a fatality are referred to the local state’s attorney, the report said. After Kanaiyah’s death, DHS discontinued using Fenwick for “one-on-one” care.

Kanaiyah, who previously lived with her family in Prince George’s County, had been staying in the hotel since August, according to the report. It detailed difficulties finding a more suitable placement for the girl, who had a history of mental health problems and self-harm, and a previous suicide attempt that led to hospitalization.

Social services staff arranged for Kanaiyah, who had been enrolled in the Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in West Baltimore, to stay in the hotel with a “one-on-one” from Fenwick, which had provided care in the past. They were booked into a hotel suite, where Kanaiyah could sleep in the bedroom while the worker stayed in the living room area.

“Fenwick had established policies that required its one-on-one staff to provide continuous, 24-hour supervision, including hourly checks, directed staff that sleeping was not permitted during their shifts, and required that all patient medications be securely stored in a ‘lock box,'” according to the report.

On Saturday, Sept. 20, Fenwick assigned a worker to a 24-hour shift starting at 10 a.m., the report said. Another caregiver was supposed to take over at 10 a.m. on Sunday but was ill, the report said, and the Saturday caregiver’s shift was extended through 3 p.m. Monday.

Social services staff were not notified of Fenwick’s scheduling difficulties, according to the report.

The worker checked on Kanaiyah at 5:45 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, and said the girl responded but didn’t get up, the report said.

“At that point, the worker had been continuously assigned for nearly 40 hours,” the report said, although The Sun’s calculations put it at closer to 44 hours.

When the worker returned to the bedroom later that morning, “Kanaiyah was no longer breathing,” according to the report. “An empty bottle labeled as diphenhydramine, with a quantity of 365 pills, was at the foot of the bed, along with a prescription bottle that contained two pills,” the report said. “Pink pills were also found nearby, in the bed and on the floor.”

Social services agencies had been in contact with Kanaiyah since 2019, according to the report, when a log notes her family was given information about parenting, therapy and other child management issues. Over the years, there were allegations of abuse or neglect made that were mostly found unsubstantiated or ruled out.

The report includes a log of regular visits with social services workers, various placements and discharges, the consideration of an out-of-state treatment center, trial home stays and meetings with school staff.

The bare-bones log reflects the teen’s struggles, with occasional glimpses of normalcy.

In March, for example, a worker requested approval for Kanaiyah to take a spring break college tour in Florida, and the following month, received approval for “one-on-one” support for the trip.

But mostly, there are stop-and-start attempts to find the right place and treatment.

“Worker visited a placement with the youth and conveyed the importance of behavioral compliance,” a June 2022 entry noted.

“Worker discussed the importance of active participation in family therapy sessions,” said one a year later.

There were subsequent notes about “appointment adherence” and a discussion with school officials about a “suspension and verbal threats.”

By July 2025, Kanaiyah’s feelings were clear in one entry: “Youth indicated she wants to be finished with” the Department of Social Services.

A month later, the report said, a residential program in the city discharged her with 72 hours’ notice. The Prince George’s County DSS “urgently contacted five other placement facilities that were not able to accept her and placed her on a waitlist at another facility.

“No residential program was willing to accept her at that time, and she did not meet the criteria for an emergency petition for inpatient hospitalization,” the report said.

By mid-September, a process was underway to get her mental health treatment, according to the report. An outpatient clinic had completed the first part of establishing “a certificate of need” for it, the report said, “and had scheduled a follow-up assessment.”

The date was Sept. 22.

If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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