Boy's mom dies when 911 thinks he is joking

[Katie]

Did anyone else read this? It's so sad. The pictures on the news of this sweet little kid made my heart break. Shame on that operator!



DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- A lawyer said he plans a lawsuit over the death of a woman whose young son called 911 to report she had collapsed, only to be told he shouldn't be playing on the phone.

Geoffrey Fieger, best known for defending assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, appeared Sunday on NBC's "Today" with the boy, Robert Turner, who turned 6 last month.

Fieger said Sherrill Turner, who had an enlarged heart, would have survived February 20 if help had been sent immediately.

On the show, the boy recounted his talk with the 911 operator.

"She thought I was playing on the phone," Robert said.

By the time authorities arrived, Sherrill Turner, 46, was dead.

"This indicates an endemic problem," Fieger said. "There's a discounting of children. Robert did exactly what he was taught to do."

Detroit police are investigating the 911 response. A spokesman did not immediately return a call Sunday.

After Turner collapsed, Robert placed two calls to 911.

In the first call about 6 p.m., Robert told an operator his mother had passed out, but an operator asked to speak with an adult.

When he called back about three hours later, an operator told him: "You shouldn't be playing on the phone."

Police arrived after the second call.

In a statement Friday, Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said it was important not to rush to judgment and indicated she would have no further comment because of "imminent or impending litigation."

Fieger said he plans to file the wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Detroit on Monday.