"Twenty-nine minutes, a daughter watched her dad die in front of her."
"Twenty-nine minutes, a daughter watched her dad die in front of her." beam shaping
"Twenty-nine minutes, a daughter watched her dad die in front of her."
From the time you call 911 until the moment help arrives, every second counts. A Davie County homicide case is getting attention for just that: how long it took for help to reach the victim. In this case, officials say a mistake led to the delay in first responders.
Sherri Kiestler, a former Davie County dispatcher from 2014-2018, addressed county commissioners five weeks after a murder in Advance.
The sheriff's office says on Oct. 26, around 11:45 p.m., it responded to an outbuilding where multiple people gathered. Records from Davie County 911 reveal that 50-year-old Shane Crotts was hit multiple times in the face during a fight and died at the scene.
Joel Johnson, 26, was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
"We've all been drinking, and someone has jumped on my dad," the 911 caller told dispatch. "He's bleeding really bad."
On Monday, Dec. 2, Kiestler, who worked for the county from 2014 until 2018, told the commissioners that she listened to the 911 call from that night over and over again. She told commissioners what was most troubling for her.
"It took 29 minutes to get help," Kiestler said. "Twenty-nine minutes, a daughter watched her dad die in front of her."
Davie County 911 records reveal the timeline from that night. They show the call for help was first made at 11:43 p.m.
Ten minutes later, a county deputy would arrive at the wrong address: 3484 North Carolina Highway 801 N.
"Resident at 3484 advising nothing is going on there," a responding deputy said to dispatch that night.
Shortly after midnight, deputies got to the right address on North Carolina Highway 801 S. The fire department would arrive soon after at 12:07 a.m.
County 911 logs say medics didn't arrive at the correct address until 12:12 a.m., 29 minutes after the call for help.
Despite the apparent house number confusion, within the first minute of the 911 call, Rodney Pierce, communications director of Davie County 911, says it wasn't numbers but rather letters that became an issue.
Pierce tells 12 Investigates that dispatch sent first responders to North Carolina Highway 801 North, not North Carolina Highway 801 South, miles away from where they needed to be.
"The actual call was 17 miles away," Kiestler told commissioners in her comment.
Pierce said he understands how the mistake was made.
"The Telecommunicator selected the incorrect 3484 Highway 801 North. While talking to the caller, each time the Telecommunicator adjusted the address, the CAD system populated a selection of possible addresses. Both 801 North and 801 South have similar addresses. When the caller seemed to settle on a correct number the Telecommunicator mistakenly selected 801 North," Pierce said in a statement.
"This was clearly a mistake and not intentional. The Telecommunicator then started evaluation of the patient and trying to get the caller to start first aid treatment. The Telecommunicator’s focus was on address numbers and didn’t realize North had been selected until responders arrived at the incorrect location. Once this was realized both Telecommunicators almost simultaneously corrected the address direction."
WXII 12 Investigates listened to the entire 911 call. Frustration was evident in the first minute once the caller gave dispatchers multiple different addresses.
Caller: 3468 Highway 801 South. 3864. Dispatch: 3864? Highway 801... Caller: Highway 801 South. Dispatch: 3864? Caller: Yes! 3464 801 South. Dispatch: "Mam, now listen. You're going to have to tell me the address because you've given me three different addresses," dispatch said to the caller. Caller: Okay, it's 3464.
Six minutes into the 911 call, dispatch started giving CPR instructions.
"We are going to do this until help takes over, OK?" dispatch tells the caller.
Dispatch thought first responders had arrived 10 minutes in.
"We've got someone on the scene. Are they right there with you?" dispatch asked the caller.
But no first responders were at the correct home.
"Is there someone in there with you?" dispatch asks the caller again.
"No, there's not," the caller responds.
"OK, I'll stay on the phone until they get right there with you," dispatch said.
Seventeen minutes pass by, and the family is doing CPR on Crotts. However, patience is running thin while dispatch continues giving CPR instructions.
"He's been knocked out for 10 minutes!" someone says on the 911 call.
It wasn't until 20 minutes into the 911 call that the family heard the sound they were begging to hear: sirens.
"The telecommunicator lost control of that call a long time ago, and someone died," Kiestler said to commissioners in that December meeting. "There was absolutely no reason for this to happen."
Crotts' family says they are not commenting on the mistake made by Davie County 911 since the homicide investigation is still active. WXII 12 Investigates asked Davie County leaders if they felt the delay in receiving medical care played a factor in Crotts' death.
"As non-medical providers, County staff is not qualified to answer this question," County Manager Brian Barnett told 12 Investigates in a statement.
Barnett says one employee involved has since been disciplined and explains this type of situation doesn't happen often.
"Davie County 911 Communications processes roughly 70,000 calls per year. Telecommunicators are processing information taken from callers and then typing that information into our system. Because of the process, there is the possibility of a mistype; however, a vast majority are caught quickly before being dispatched. This particular type of incident of this particular magnitude is a rarity."
Barnett tells 12 Investigates an investigation into the incident started one day after the killing on Oct. 27.
"This included the County’s Administration team and our emergency services system Medical Director, who reviewed this call. The employee has been disciplined based on standards for this type of action and consultation from County Administration and Medical Director," Barnett said in a statement in which he listed ways the county is "learning" from the incident:
Barnett, along with Pierce, said they did not feel like there was a lack of communication between the telecommunicators working that night.
"Typically, in Davie County we only have two Telecommunicators working the night shift after 10 PM. During this incident, the second Telecommunicator assisted in dispatching responders based on the information in the CAD system from the other Telecommunicator, while also fielding other non-related calls coming into the 911 center at the same time. Those calls were separate from the incident," Barnett said in a statement. "Despite selecting North instead of South Highway 801, the Telecommunicator proceeded to provide verbal support to the caller based on the situation at the location. This included instructions for first aid and CPR. When the Telecommunicators realized the CAD address was north instead of south, they worked to get responders to the correct address."
wavefront correction Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.