Woman found dead after 911 operators ignored 5-year-old's plea

Two 911 operators 43-year-old Sharon Nichols and 47-year-old Terri Sutton were accused of willful neglect of duty charges after not believing a 5-year-old boys plea, the child had called in to say his mother had collapsed.


They both pleaded not guilty in court and declined to comment afterwards, their lawyers stated the operators intended to fight the charges. Terri Sutton's lawyer, David Lee claimed he looked forward to coming to court and defending this case in the proper forum.



According to prosecutors the operators did not send a police car out after the boy rang them, after the boy rang a second time three hours later, Terri Sutton arranged for police to go down to the boy's house not to help but to discipline him and inform his parents he kept dialing them.

When police finally arrived they discovered the child's mother 46-year-old Sherrill Turner was dead. Police claim disciplinary action against the operators was pending and could range from suspension without pay to dismissal. The operators could face a year in jail if they are found guilty of the charges against them.

 

They deserve far worse than that. How can they ignore a call like that? Was he not convincing enough? That kid's life is going to be fucked now, knowing that he tried to save his mother, only to have 911, the people who he'd been taught to call for help ignore him. Sickening.

 

That's really disturbing. I've taught my children to dial 911 if "mommy should ever get really sick, fall down and can't talk". The fact that an operator might not take them seriously is upsetting.

 

That's horrible, I can't believe that would happen.

 

OMG ....that poor Baby !!!!

 

That's just sick.

 

That kind of thing happens all the time. 911 operators in major cities, for the most part, are lazy, incompetent, uneducated, apathetic bums. I called 911 about a year ago (the only time I've done that in years) when people were attacking my car with bottles and threatening to kill us, and the 911 operator asked me, "well, what do you expect us to do about it?" After getting a tongue lashing from them about exactly what they ought to be doing about it, I hope I don't need to tell you that the cops never showed up. The police in that part of Houston spend hours out of each shift hanging around in donut shops, restaurants, and starbucks, refusing to answer radio calls. The cops are all members of the AFL-CIO police union that makes damn sure that their members don't work too hard and get paid as much as possible.

People that believe that 911 operators and the police care about what happens to them basically watch too much TV. Unfortunately, just the opposite is the case, at least most of the time.

 

I have been told a story similar to this one....my driving instructor came across a car accident in the middle of no where, when he called 911 they told him they dont beleve him, because they get false reports of car accidents to that area all the time because people think its funny to send emergency vehicles out driving for an hour or more, only to find out there was no accident....he called many times and they just ignored him, and my instructor couldnt do anything except sit there and watch the kid in the accident die

 

Ok that is FUCKED up I hate the fucking pigs so much. Fucking society fuck them all.

 

ive got something similar. but not really the same type of story. when i was little i noticed that everyone seemed really dumb and societies ideas just seems so wrong and blah blah blah. anyways i thought it was really serious, so i called 911 and i asked why is everyone so stupid, and she said something and then i was all oh no! your stupid too. and hanged up. they did send police car, but to punish me for a prank call or some shit.

 

Man That's A Fucking Disgrase!!
THEY ARE MEANT TO HELP!!

 

That was a huge scandal around here.. Radio talk shows about it all day long for days at a time. Poor baby...

Luckily, the only times I've ever had to dial 911 brought the professionals to my door ASAP.

 

Thats just fucked up, 911 operators are assholes aroudn here too. Some women called abotu her duaghter threating to stab her with a knife, the guy said "What you want us to do? Come shoot her?"

 

yes^

 

that is just so awful. i hope these woman live with that guilt the rest of their lives.

 

It's not for the operator's to decide, they should've sent police and if the kid was faking they should receive a fine. Those operators should be fined.

 

no one can trust anyone any more. did any one stop to think about how fucked up that kid is going to be? hes never going to trust any higher authority again, because the government didnt take him seriously

 

Lol, that sounds alot funnier than it is...

Anyway, that is so fucked that they didn't send an ambulance. Seriously. Those people should have alot worse coming their way, they fucked that kids life up BIG TIME.

 

Why would anyone assume that a 5 year old child is lying about their parent being passed out?

It's not like parents teach their kids "now dial 911 if your bored"

 

Police are needed to secure order. I hate people like you who talk about them like they aren't people and should do kill themselves. It is rediculous to hate police officers because of what SOME may have done or do. If there were no police then I am sure someone would have shot you by now for something small...but there are police. See, the police have saved your life by just ebing around.

FYI, "the pigs" are not operators/dispatchers. They tell "the pigs", firefighters, and EMS services to go somewhere due to a 911 call. And what they did was illegal. They definetly (by law) did not have to send an ambulance, but they did have to send an officer down right away to investigate, it is the law.

From personal experience: When I was 7 I called 911 as a prank call, so little kids definetly do it sometimes. But like 20-30 min later a police officer showed up. Me and my friend didn't get in trouble, they just asked us to go to the police station some time and talk to the cheif.