Family Threatens to Sue Over 911 Error

Family Threatens to Sue Over 911 Error


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Sam Penrod ReportingCarol Davis, Victim's Sister: "It starts to make you think suspicious in your mind when you are finding little bits here and there, and each time it's another dig in your wounds."

Family members of a man who called 9-1-1 and never got the help he pleaded for threaten to sue Provo City. It has been more than six months since 30-year old Scott Aston was found dead in his apartment in Provo. But his family says the city still won't take responsibility for the botched 9-1-1 call or release the independent investigation in the case.

The family insists the lawsuit is not about money. They say they want changes to the protocol used by 9-1-1 dispatchers and all of the answers about what happened when Scott Aston's last plea for help in a 911 call was mishandled.

911 Call: "Send an ambulance, I'm dying."

That was the last call Scott Aston ever made, as he pleaded for help that never arrived, after a 911 dispatcher confused his address, and couldn't trace the call because Aston was on a cell phone. He was found dead four days later inside of his Provo apartment.

Carol Davis, Victim's Sister: “On the 5th the paramedics who arrived at the scene made the connection instantly that it was Scott. That this was the guy who called that they didn't find. On the 5th we were told that his hands were relaxed, there was no sign of pain, he went to sleep and went to Jesus."

Aston's family says Provo City never told them about Scott's 9-1-1 call for nearly two months, until the night before they were to receive the autopsy report which detailed the 9-1-1 call on the front page.

Carol Davis, Victim's Sister: "That was unnecessary emotional distress that was placed on us. That was like hearing he had died all over again, but worse because the comfort of no pain in his sleep was taken away."

Because his body was not immediately discovered, the medical examiner was unable to determine Scott's cause of death.

Today in a notice to sue Provo City, Aston's family outlines allegations of mistakes made by 9-1-1 dispatchers and an attempt by the Mayor's office to cover it up. Their attorney is demanding Provo City begin negotiating with the family in the next 60 days or a lawsuit will be filed.

Justin Heideman, Attorney for Aston Family: "That they would actually want to negotiate what's going on here, turn over information, see if we can come to some type of resolution that doesn't cause additional embarrassment, frustration, or discomfort to them or the family."

The family has not said how much they are seeking in damages, but could be limited because of the government immunity act.

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