Milwaukee 911 delay: Victim's attorney says problems 'systemic'

MILWAUKEE - The attorney representing a 99-year-old Milwaukee woman, who was beaten in her own home in July, said the city's 911 process has "systemic" problems.

What we know:

In late July, a 99-year-old woman named Shirley was attacked in her home and waited hours for help to arrive. Prosecutors said that the attacker was a stranger.

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The victim's attorney, Chris MacGillis, shared an update at 11 a.m. Sept. 23. FOX6 News is streaming his update live in this story, on FOX LOCAL and on the FOX6 News Milwaukee YouTube channel.

What we don't know:

Earlier this month, MacGillis said he wasn't ruling out lawsuits over the mishandling of the 911 calls. It's not clear if a lawsuit is still on the table at this time.

What you can do:

MacGillis announced a GoFundMe online fundraiser was created to support the victim. The GoFundMe page says donations would go toward medical bills and assisted living expenses.

Internal investigation

Dig deeper:

An internal investigation at Milwaukee’s Department of Emergency Communications revealed details about the delayed response. The 911 call takers at the center of that investigation were found to have violated protocol. Both resigned before getting fired. 

Multiple calls for help were made. The first two were made by Life Alert. Records show Stephanie Hughes was the first 911 call taker to answer the call at 5:14 a.m. She reported hearing what sounded like a physical fight and someone threatening to harm a woman. That is when she changed the classification from a welfare check to a "threat." But investigators said that was not enough, and it should have been upgraded to battery.

There was a second call for help made, again by Life Alert. Arriana Cadotte-Merced was the call taker who answered around 5:22 a.m. She did not upgrade the call to a battery either. Records show she told investigators she did not have enough confirmation to classify it as a battery based on her training.

There was a 911 call made by Shirley just before 8 a.m. That was classified as battery, and police arrived at the scene minutes before 8:30 a.m.

James Ireton, the primary Milwaukee Police District 6 dispatcher, was also investigated. Investigators concluded that Ireton did not violate policy. He relied on the information and classifications entered by the Department of Emergency Communications call takers.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Andrew Amouzou and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

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