-Eldica Stuart-
Cousins!
A Pennsylvania 911 dispatcher has been hit with a rare charge of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, official oppression and obstruction, after failing to send an ambulance to a woman’s house that ultimately died!
Leon “Lee” Price, is said to have been on duty at the time when he failed to dispatch an ambulance to a rural town that shortly led to the death of a woman named Diania Kronk, 54.
According to CBS News, in July of 2020, there was a call made to the police describing Diania’s need of medical attention and that she would die if no one came. In the 911 audio recording, Diania’s daughter Kelly Titchenell, 38 asked the dispatcher to send help and if her mother could go to the hospital which was half-hour away from their location. Lee stated he would send an ambulance but added “we really need to make sure she’s willing to go.”
Kelly says, “I believe she would be alive today if they would have sent an ambulance.” It has been stated that Lee and Kelly had a brief conversation about sending an ambulance as soon as possible. She told Lee she was about 10 minutes from her mother’s home. That’s when he asked if she would call 911 back once she made sure her mother was willing to go in an ambulance.
“I’m sorry,” Kelly said, and Lee replied: “No, don’t be sorry, ma’am. Just call me when you get out there, OK?”
“She’s going to go, she’s going to go,” The daughter stated. “Cause if not, she’s going to die, there’s nothing else.”
“This is unheard of, to me. I mean, they’ll send an ambulance for anything, And here I am telling this guy that my mom’s going to die. It’s, like, her death, and she doesn’t get an ambulance,” says Kelly to local news.
Reports read tha when Kelly arrived at her mother’s home that’s when she found her nude on the front porch speaking incomprehensible. She once again called 911, realizing that she could not call because her mother’s phone had no service. Diania unfortunately died the next day from internal bleeding.
Green County Attorney Dave Russo is investigating whether there is a policy on 911 dispatchers refusing service to callers.
Kelly, on behalf of her mother’s estate, has sued Price and Greene County in Pittsburgh federal court last month, along with two 911 supervisors. The lawsuit accuses Price of “callous refusal of public emergency.”
In addition to this case, the lawyer for the county and 911 supervisors have stated that they plan to counter-sue because they feel they are not the ones responsible for the woman’s death.
Lee, 50 has been charged with manslaughter. He was arrested and then later released on bail earlier this month.
“It has to be very clear throughout the entire state, that when you call it’s not going to be conditioned on somebody on the other end of the phone saying there’s going to be a service provided or not,” he said. “What we’re trying to do here is make this never happen to somebody else,” said Kelly’s attorney Lawrence Bolind Jr.