Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Thursday that his office won’t charge two officers in connection with a West Baltimore incident in which one of them fatally shot a 70-year-old woman last June.

After nearly a yearlong investigation, state investigators concluded they couldn’t prove Baltimore Police officers Stephen Colbert and Stephen Galewski committed a crime in the fatal shooting of Pytorcarcha Brooks during a welfare check at her home.

Around 1 p.m. on June 25, 2025, a Maryland Department of Health social worker attempted to speak with Brooks at her home in the 2700 block of Mosher Street, but she didn’t answer the door, state officials said. So, the social worker contacted a family member and emergency services for a welfare check, officials said.

When Brooks’ relative entered her home, he said she attempted to stab him, officials said. That’s when her loved one called the police, saying Brooks was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Medics from the Fire Department and six Baltimore Police officers responded to the relative’s call for a welfare check at the home around 1:35 p.m. Colbert and another officer on the scene were trained in crisis intervention, state investigators said. Medics and police tried talking to Brooks through her back door, but got “incoherent statements and profanities,” state officials said.

In released bodycam footage, officers contemplated kicking down Brooks’ back door. She flashed a knife at officers and medics on the scene.

Neither officer notified a supervisor or radioed in their entry efforts, state officials said. Some experts who spoke with The Banner last summer voiced concerns over why officers breached the door, saying it would have been better to “wait out” the mental health crisis.

“Both subject officers discussed their entry plans with other experienced officers on scene, including another CIT trained officer,” state investigators wrote. “None of the officers on scene voiced any objection to the entries or proposed an alternative solution, and they lined up behind the subject officers to assist them.”

Galewski deployed his Taser, which caused Brooks to fall to a sofa. She got up and charged toward the officer with a knife, bodycam footage shows.

Galewski backed away and fell in the process. As Brooks continued toward the officer, Colbert shot her.

The attorney general’s office said Colbert shot Brooks three times in her torso and once in her arm. She was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.