Son beats mother to death while cops can’t track 911 call www.privateofficer.com

Son beats mother to death while cops unable to track 911 call http://www.privateofficer.com

WILLISTON, Vt. Aug 11 2008 — In the wake of what police are calling a murder of a Wells, Vt., woman who tried to call 911 as she was being beaten to death by her 14-year-old son, Verizon Wireless has reviewed its procedures regarding how it provides customer information to 911 dispatchers in emergency situations.

According to Verizon Wireless media representative John O’Malley, all of their representatives have been instructed to ask 911 operators if it is a life and death situation before they provide dispatchers with the customers’ personal information.

If the answer is yes, instead of faxing in a formal request, the Verizon rep will place the caller on hold and immediately do “a call back verification” to the 911 dispatch center to confirm the call is legitimate. When that is determined the Verizon rep will give the info to the 911 dispatcher.Previously if the dispatcher made it clear it was a life and death situation the call back would be done — now the Verizon workers have been instructed to be proactive and ask the question.The Vermont woman allegedly killed by her teenage son couldn’t reach local authorities until 34 minutes later because her 911 call was picked up in New York state, records indicate.

Police said it’s not unheard of for 911 calls placed on cell phones in Vermont to get picked up across Lake Champlain in New York’s North Country.

Teen Accused Of Killing Mother, Charged As Adult PDF: 14-Year-Old Accused Of Killing Mother, Charged As Adult

Court paperwork indicates that Francine Morgan, 40, dialed 911 early Saturday, screaming as her 14-year-old son allegedly beat and shot her in the face.”In listening to the beginning of this tape, a woman’s loud screaming voice is heard … The screaming continues by the female voice. During the screaming, noises that are consistent with an object striking another object can be heard,” court documents said.

“As the tape continues these noises change to a different type of sound. A short time later the female’s voice stops.

“An autopsy on Morgan revealed she died from blunt force trauma to the head. She also had been shot in the cheek with the bullet lodging in her tongue. Morgan’s husband was not home at the time.At 3:55 a.m., Washington County dispatchers in New York received the 911 call. Police said Morgan was unresponsive by the end of the call.At 4:29 a.m., Vermont State Police in Rutland finally received notification of Morgan’s 911 call.

According to court papers, Washington County dispatchers figured out Morgan’s address via her cell phone company. The circumstances surrounding how officials obtained the information were not immediately known.Washington County dispatch officials did not return NewsChannel 5′s calls on Tuesday about Morgan’s 911 call early Saturday morning.

Christian J. Taylor, 14, was arraigned Monday in Rutland District Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges. While Taylor is being charged as an adult, Judge William Cohen ordered that he be held at a secure juvenile detention center pending further court proceedings.911 Uses GPS To Track Cell Phone CallsNewsChannel 5′s Mary Morin reported that about half the 911 calls that Vermont dispatch centers receive come from cell phones.

Authorities explained to NewsChannel 5 how dispatch centers can locate callers unable to tell dispatchers of their exact location.When callers dial 911, the phone essentially makes a radio call to the nearest cell tower, which may not always be in Vermont, police said.”I’ve seen where you can move just a few feet one way or the other and suddenly one tower is a stronger signal than the other one you’ve been using,” South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple said. “You can’t plan for sure which tower, which service it’s going to pick up.”Vermont’s Enhanced-911 director said dispatchers get information during calls for help received from cell phones, including the phone number and a map of the location.Two methods authorities used to locate the 911 caller on a cell phone include:GPS-enabled phones can find the caller within 30 meters of the location about 95 percent of the time.

Dispatchers can try to locate the caller via triangulation between different cell phone towers.”It’s electronic, but then they make a best guess, but unfortunately, that’s a guess and that’s subject to some error,” Whipple said.In New York, Clinton County emergency services also traces 911 calls from cell phones.

At best, they said they can track callers within about 50 feet.

In order for the technology to work, a cell phone must be on, have a signal and have GPS capabilities.

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