Audio By Carbonatix
On Sunday morning, with their knocks and phone calls unanswered and water pouring from beneath locked doors, family members broke into Deanna Cook’s home. They found the 32-year-old dead in her bath tub.
Two days before, police had been called to a domestic disturbance at the home. Dallas police knocked on the door but received no answer, then checked the perimeter windows and spoke to neighbors, who reported nothing out of the ordinary. Then, they left.
Police arrested Cook’s former husband, 35-year-old Delveccio Patrick, and charged him with murder, but questions are being raised about what appears to be another inept response by the city’s 911 system.
Rebecca Lopez at WFAA is reporting on just how horrific that 911 call was. According to sources, you could hear Cook begging and gasping for help as Patrick threatens to kill her. The call lasts 11 minutes.
Police released a statement on Monday detailing the response to the call. The call was made from a cell phone, and it took about nine minutes to locate an address, at which point officers were dispatched.
“The department is seeking to determine if the nature of the call was sufficiently communicated through each step of the process to the responding officers and appropriateness of their response based on the information provided,” the statement said.
Lopez reports that officers knew only they were going to a domestic disturbance call, not that the caller is being attacked.
Update at 5:45 p.m.: Police say they are still investigating the handling of Cook’s 911 call but have created a new call classification in response to a preliminatry review. The new classification alerts officers that there is an ongoing disturbance involving imminent serious bodily injury or death and requires an emergency response.
