Dispatcher Who Didn’t Send Ambulance Charged In Death

911 Dispatchers have a challenging job that comes with great responsibility. There is little room for error and certainly no room for negligence. Recently, a 911 operator from Pennsylvania was faced with a rare charge of involuntary manslaughter.[1]

911 operator, Leon Price, did not send an ambulance to someone who requested it. And as it turns out, the woman who needed it died the next day due to internal bleeding. What makes this situation even worse is that the woman’s daughter had pleaded with the operator to send medical help. This involuntary manslaughter took place in the July of 2020- when the COVID pandemic was at its peak. A detective from Greene County filed the charges against Leon Price of Waynesburg almost 2 years after the incident took place. 

Kelly Titchenell, the daughter of the deceased Diania Kronk stated, “I believe she would be alive today if they would have sent an ambulance.” Incidentally, Price has also been charged with official oppression, reckless endangerment, and obstruction. He had allegedly interrogated the panic-stricken woman repeatedly when he should have been sending an ambulance. As it turns out, authorities arraigned the suspended dispatcher on the 29th of June and then released her on bail. The representative for Titchenell, Lawrence E. Bolind Jr., recently mentioned, “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. What we’re trying to do here is make this never happen to somebody else.”

Dispatcher’s Negligence Leads To the Death Of A Woman

The official recording of the call finds the dispatcher constantly questioning Titchenell’s description of her mother. The operator even asked her if she was willing to go to the hospital simply because it was 30-minutes away- at a time when Konk was convulsing and bleeding. Her daughter informed Price, “She will be, ‘cause I’m on my way there, so she’s going, or she’s going to die.”[2]

Price was still quite hesitant as he added, “We really need to make sure she’s willing to go.” To this, Titchenell replied, “She’s going to go, she’s going to. Cause if not, she’s going to die, there’s nothing else.” Frustratingly, Price was still not convinced, and asked her again. Then Titchenell informed the operator that she was about 10 minutes from her mother’s house. Price asked her to give 911 a call when she had reached her mother. But anyone can understand that precious time was being wasted. 

When this overwhelmed daughter reached her mother, she found her babbling incoherently while nude. “She just kept saying that was OK, she’s fine. She’s the mom, you know- she doesn’t listen to her children.” Titchenell further stated that she didn’t call 911 because the situation had escalated. Also, she couldn’t locate her mother’s cell. However, the dispatcher’s actions flabbergasted her.

“This is unheard of, to me, 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.” The District Attorney of Greene County Dave Russo has decided to look into this policy if there was any. For, it was definitely unheard of for a dispatcher to refuse services to callers. 

Why Did The Dispatcher Hesitate So Much Rather Than Sending In An Ambulance Immediately?

In an interview, Russo mentioned, “We all deserve equal protection, and we all deserve access to medical services. I have a major concern as to the safety of the community in regards to this.” A Naperville lawyer, John Kelly, informed that there were criminal procedures against dispatchers. While the laws are quite rare in that regard, it has happened under some special circumstances. Titchenell sued both Greene County, as well as Price, in the federal court of Pittsburg the previous month. According to the lawsuit, the accusation against Price is a “callous refusal of public emergency medical services.”[3]

The lawyer for the county, Marie Milie Jones, on the other hand, clearly stated that the clients will defend themselves vigorously over this. “It’s unfortunate that this woman had died. Certainly, from a personal standpoint, that’s very difficult. I’m not going to comment on the details of her circumstances.”

As it turns out, the daughter had informed the dispatcher that her mother had been consuming alcohol a little too much for the weeks that preceded her death. She also noticed that her mother had been losing weight constantly and was also turning yellow. But- what had to happen has already happened. All she is left with now are memories of her mother. Titchenell recently mentioned that she thinks about her mother every day. She remembers her mother cooking for her grandchildren. Titchenell also remembers her celebrating every Christmas Day like it was the last one she would ever celebrate. “She had the biggest heart. If someone didn’t have a place to live, she was going to take them in, and give them a bed. That was Mom.”

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