TAYLOR MILL, Ky. — They made the wrong choice — that's what Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said about a state psychiatric hospital's decision to release a mental health patient less than 24 hours after he was admitted.
Days later, police shot and killed the man because he was allegedly threatening to kill his wife.
Sanders' office on Thursday released video from the June 30 incident. The footage recorded from two Covington police officer's body-worn cameras are significantly redacted, with much of the scene blocked from view, but you can hear a woman cry for help.
That woman was the wife of the suspect, 66-year-old David Dalhover. Sanders said Joshua Denny, a 10-year police veteran, found Dalhover standing over his wife with a knife to her chest.
Sanders said before officers arrived, Dalhover had threatened to shoot his wife too.
911 callers reported that their mother was being assaulted by her husband inside the home. Dalhover could be heard threatening to shoot her and "gut her," Sanders said.
"Officers did their job. It was very heroic of them to run into that residence to save the victim's life not knowing what lay on the other side of that door they went through. It could have been very bad," he said. "They're actions — very commendable. The City of Covington should be proud."
While Sanders agrees with Kentucky State Police's Critical Incident Response Team in justifying the use of force, he also said it was entirely preventable.
Dalhover was already known to officers. Sanders said he was involved in a SWAT standoff at the same Grand Avenue house just days earlier.
After that earlier incident, a Kenton District Judge deemed Dalhover a threat to himself and others and ordered he be hospitalized at Eastern State Hospital, Kentucky's only in-patient, long-term mental health treatment facility.
That order was for 60 days, but Sanders said staff released him less than 24 hours after he arrived.
"Mr. Dalhover got back from Eastern State Hospital probably faster than the Sheriff's deputy that drove him there," Sanders said. "He was back in Kenton County before paperwork ordering him into the hospital even made it to Fayette County."
It takes two psychiatric professionals as well as a judge to make the determination that someone needs to be hospitalized. Despite that, Sanders said a single employee at Eastern State Hospital can decide a patient doesn't meet the necessary criteria for hospitalization and send them home.
Eastern State Hospital is a 300,000-square-foot medical center with seven acute care units able to serve a total of nearly 200 patients.
Sanders said the facility, which is located in Lexington and run by UK HealthCare, is "woefully' underfunded and overcrowded, a dire position pressuring employees to clear out as many patients as possible.
"Obviously they made the wrong choice in this situation," Sanders said. "Mr. Dalhover was obviously a threat to other people. He was threatening to kill his own wife. This is something that would not have happened — she would not have feared being killed, police officers wouldn't have had to shoot Mr. Dalhover — if he was still in Eastern State Hospital where he belongs."
We reached out to UK HealthCare for a response to Sanders' claims. We also asked them what their policy is when it comes to determining a patient eligible for release. While a spokesperson did write back, we did not get a direct answer to either of our inquiries.
"Eastern State Hospital cares for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness who meet criteria according to state law (202-A). Due to HIPAA, we are not able to comment on the care of any patient," said Allison Perry who serves as Deputy Public Relations Director at the Medical Campus for UK Public Relations & Strategic Communications.
Sanders said the current system is flawed, and can only begin to be fixed through sufficient funding. He's looking to state legislators to consider prioritizing mental health in the state.
"We need to make sure that there is an independent evaluation from someone that doesn't have financial motivation to kick people out of the hospital even if they still pose a threat to the public," said Sanders. "This will not, sadly, be the last time police have to shoot and kill someone to save a victim if we don't change the system."
