The lack of care available when it comes to addressing mental health issues can ultimately become a death sentence.

35 year old Randall Fife, who struggled with mental health issues for years, was having an episode back in August, that led to a standoff with police. Fife was shot and killed.

Now, his mother Kerri, sits at his grave, wishing things were different.

"I just talk to him, just sit, listen to the birds chirp," said Kerri Fife.

Countless times Kerri says she tried to get help for him but according to the law, he was able to refuse it and he did.

"Everybody knew that he had been ill, but the resources just weren't there to mandate, you know, him to be housed in a mental health facility," Kerri said.

Lawmakers are taking the moment to make changes to House Bill 249, so that people with mental health issues who, among other things, represent a substantial risk of harm to themselves or others, refuse treatment or don't adhere to prescribed treatment or have impaired judgment due to a lack of understanding of having an illness, can be forced to receive the care they need.

"The law currently requires that the dangerousness that the individual poses, be imminent," said Dr. Megan Testa of the Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association. "As a result, some of the time, the person has already made a threat or already caused harm to themselves or to others before intervention can occur," she said.

That lack of intervention causes the person to only get worse. Ricco Acevedo's family says he suffered from mental health issues and was shot and killed by police in October.

"You go there and you find the man in dollar general parking lot butt naked doing push ups doing sit ups working out, his clothes are hanging on a tree branch drying behind Dollar General, that's not enough right there to say that he needs some mental health," asked Ricco's brother, Pastor Rocky DeFrank, through tears. "They failed him, they never gave it to him, they locked him back up in jail, and put him in, put him back in jail, then the next thing I know, maybe a week later, he's dead," he said.

"We knew that Randall needed help, more than anybody would've known, we lived with him, you know," said Kerri. "But nobody took our word for it, so it's a good thing that they're trusting that families know their loved ones," she said.

Both families feel the bill could have changed their situations dramatically.

"I believe that my brother would still be alive, it could have saved his life, it could've helped him and got him the help that he truly, truly needed," DeFrank said.

"I feel like damn why couldn't this have happened back when I needed it," asked Kerri. "It didn't and that's just how it is, but I'm glad it's finally maybe gonna happen," she said.

For now it's a waiting game, as the bill still has to get through the house and senate, then make it's way to the Governer's desk to be signed into law.