A Troubled Son; A Mother's Loss in Urbandale

Tammy Rude thought she was doing the right thing in moving her mentally-ill son to Urbandale to live.

"I moved him to Urbandale for safety reasons. I thought it was a safe area. I mean, you don't hear about crime in Urbandale," she said Tuesday.

That was two and a half years ago, after Michael Mehalovich was beaten by several men outside he and Rude's home in the Drake neighborhood. Rude says they wanted to steal his disability check, but police told her it was because of drugs.

Rude said she was struck in the eye and suffered permanent damage when she tried to pull the men off her son. 

Starting Over in Urbandale

After that incident, Rude moved Mehalovich, who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic when he was 18, to the n Urbandale.

His disability check would cover the rent and utilities of a studio apartment there. But soon she discovered there were problems at the Motel Relax, as well.

Rude said her son and his wife, Amanda, were hoping to use a rent rebate check he expected to get at the end of the year as a deposit on another place so they could leave the Motel Relax.

Instead Mehalovich, 26, was found dead on Dec. 16. Rude said the medical examiner's report said he died of acute hydrocodone toxicity in an accidental overdose. 

Families Press for Changes at Motel

Christina Garner, 55, another tenant at the Motel Relax was arrested and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death for allegedly supplying Mehalovich with the pills.

Rude joined Lisa Nauman and others Saturday in protesting at the Motel Relax. Nauman's brother, Chad, died of a heroin overdose at the extended-stay motel at 7625 Hickman Road. 

Frustrated by their losses, they want the motel cleaned up or shut down. 

Rude said her son was an easy target because of his mental illness. He'd had various troubles with drugs — methamphetamine, pot, and lately he was taking pills.

"They just took advantage of him all the time out there," she said. 

He was on medication for his paranoid schizophrenia — a shot that he got every two weeks helped control that disease — but Rude said he also had a lot of anxiety and was using illegal drugs to self-medicate his anxiety.

"I had him when I was 19, too young to be a mother. We learned a lot together," said Rude, who has two younger children, as well.

"As a child he was a really sweet kid. He really looked up to me as his mom. We were really close," she said. "Besides losing my son, I lost my best friend."