Gwinnett County mother desperate for her brain-injured son to return home
LaShondra Woodall wants you to take a good look at these photos, have you seen her son?
NORCROSS, Ga. – Almost four months have passed since LaShondra Woodall last saw her 26-year-old son, Alize, who has a debilitating brain injury.
He was supposed to be in a mental health facility, but she says he was released, despite his wishes as legal guardian. Now, she fears the worst.
“I dream of him coming home all the time, but then I wake up and reality sets in,” he said. “He is not here.”
There are so many places a grown man living with mental disabilities can go.
Alize Woodall was in one of those places in norcross at Lakeview Behavioral Health.
He ended up there at the end of July after an episode at his mother’s house. Athens home.
That sent him to jail, as his mother didn’t know who else to turn to.
“I didn’t want him to go to jail, but that’s the only place they could take him temporarily,” he said.
Although Alize is 20 years old, Woodall is her son’s legal guardian.
He was upbeat when he was welcomed into the Norcross facility, but when he called to check on him, he says he was told he had been released.
“They let him go. Just because he is 26 years old they think he was of legal age to make his own decisions, but he was not of legal age because his mental capacity would not allow him to do that.”
Woodall says her son doesn’t know anyone in Gwinnett County and doesn’t know his mother’s phone number or have his own phone with him.
Lakeview Behavioral Health sent out a statement that reads in part:
“Lakeview has comprehensive discharge policies for our patients. Our staff works to return them to their families or another place where they can receive support. We hope you are safe.”
“I just want everyone to see these photos to take a really close look. If you see someone who looks like him, please stop and ask their name,” he said. “He Calls 911.”
Woodall says he wants the public to know that it was the hit-and-run that upset his family dynamic. Alize is a father who had a job and lived a normal life before his brain injury. If it hadn’t happened, she says, he wouldn’t need a facility to care for him and he’d be here today.
Anyone who thinks they have seen Woodall should call 911 or Gwinnett County Police Department.
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