To a degree, the operators and individual police officers shouldn't be blamed. However the City and the Police Force should be made accountable for providing and inept service without checks and balances coupled to training and procedures - The family should appeal and look into going after the City and PD for the inept governing body.

this is a horrible ruling. so the city is off the hook when 9-1-1 operators ignore protocols and don't do their jobs? That's great to know. in jersey city they take an hour to respond to a call for police anyway. I had to wait OVER an hour for an officer to take a police report when somebody damaged my husband's car in a hit and run.

The Appellate Division ruling should have been left alone. good for us as jc taxpayers for this particular case, but scary for all of us that the city and its employees can ignore their obligations to do their jobs correctly

A victory indeed imagine going to a job and having to be worried about being sued. It's about time the burden has been lifted.

State Supreme Court rules Jersey City and 911 operators shielded from suit filed by victim of 2005 family massacre

March 09, 2012, 11:19 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

The state Supreme Court delivered a huge legal victory to Jersey City yesterday, ruling unanimously that the city and its 911 operators cannot be found negligent in the case of a Jersey City boy who was stabbed multiple times in a 2005 attack that killed his mother and siblings.

The state Legislature has decided that the overall benefits of an enhanced 911 system require that public entities and their employees be shielded from costly lawsuits for negligent mistakes, the court decided.

Justice Barry T. Albin wrote in the decision that the Appellate Division erred in ruling that 911 operators are not entitled to immunity for careless mistakes made when dispatching police, fire, or first-aid personnel to the scene of an emergency, but that the operators are immune for such mistakes when assisting the police in an ongoing investigation. The ruling reversed the Appellate Division and held that 911 operators the in Wilson case as well as the city itself "are immune for any negligence causing civil damage to plaintiffs."

The civil suit against the city and two 911 operators was filed by Paris Wilson, the young boy who was attacked along with his mother and two siblings inside their Wegman Parkway apartment on Sept. 20, 2005. A man in a neighboring apartment called 911 about someone screaming ?next door,? but he gave operators an incorrect address.

The Wilsons lived at 207 Wegman Parkway, which has an alternate address at 185 Martin Luther King Drive. The man who called 911 gave the address as 185 Wegman Parkway, according to yesterday?s ruling. When the police went to that address, they found an unoccupied home, and left.

It wasn?t until 30 hours after the attack that Wilson, who survived being stabbed in the arm, chest and side, was able to call 911 and give authorities the proper address. He was 9 years old at the time.

Dwayne Wilson, Paris Wilson?s uncle, pleaded guilty in September 2010 to three counts of aggravated manslaughter for the attack, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In the suit, Paris Wilson accuses the city and the 911 operators of engaging in negligence, gross negligence, or wanton and willful disregard for the safety of others. The suit claims that delays caused by the 911 operators contributed to the death of his mother, Marcia Wilson, 35, and sister Dartagania and brother DeQuan, who were both 11.

A trial court dismissed the charges against the defendants, which originally included a dispatcher and two police officers. An appellate court in August 2010 allowed the suit to move forward against the city and the 911 operators. Yesterday?s decision reverses that ruling.

In the ruling, Albin remands the suit back to the appellate court to decide whether the 911 operators? actions ?constituted wanton and willful disregard for the safety of persons,? which would deny them protection under the state?s immunity statute.

City officials hailed the court?s decision.

?This was a tragic incident, but we are satisfied with this decision because the taxpayers should not bear the brunt of this horrible event for which neither the city nor any of its workers bore any responsibility,? Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement.

Wilson?s attorney did not return a phone call requesting comment.
http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... eme_court_rules_jers.html

The state Supreme Court delivered a huge legal victory to Jersey City yesterday, ruling unanimously that the city and its 911 operators cannot be found negligent in the case of a Jersey City boy who was stabbed multiple times in a 2005 attack that killed his mother and siblings, The Jersey Journal reports.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... eme_court_delivers_c.html

Jersey City man with multiple personalities will serve minimum 34 years for stabbing sister and two of her kids to death; third child tells court of surviving bloodbath

Saturday, November 20, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City man with multiple personalities who stabbed his sister and two of her children to death in Greenville in 2005 was sentenced yesterday to 40 years in prison after the only survivor of the bloodbath made a plea for the maximum sentence.

"It was like looking at the devil in the eye," said 14-year-old Paris Wilson after the sentencing of his uncle, Dwayne Wilson, 43, who pleaded guilty on Sept. 27 to three counts of aggravated manslaughter and one of aggravated assault for his attack on Paris.

The prosecution and defense agreed Dwayne Wilson has multiple personalities and psychologists say it was one named "Kiko" who killed his sister, Marcia Wilson, 35, and her daughter D'Artagnania and son DeQuan, both 11, either late Sept. 19 or early Sept. 20, 2005 in the family's Wegman Parkway home.

At the plea hearing Dwayne Wilson was asked if he saw "Kiko" kill the victims and he answered, "I did not see him stab them, but I saw him going over there and I tried to hold him back."

After the sentencing, the 14-year-old said: "It was a lot of mixed emotions, but I knew my mom and my sister and my brother could not talk, so I had to talk for them."

Dwayne Wilson said that on Sept. 19, 2005 he baked a cake for Paris' birthday and that night he drank with his sister before blacking out.

"So when I came to I called her name three times and, and, I see and I looked and see and saw all blood all over everywhere," Dwayne Wilson said, adding that he fled the apartment.

Paris Wilson, who drifted in and out of consciousness that night, said his mother died quickly but his brother and sister lived for some time. Roughly 36 hours after being stabbed numerous times, Paris managed to call 911.

Dwayne Wilson said that after the slaughter he walked to the Heights and smoked crack. A tip led to his arrest on Oct. 27, 2005 in a Manhattan hospital where he'd checked in under the name of another of his alter egos, Alejandro Hernandez. He was admitted after a suicide attempt.

Hudson County Superior Court Judge Fred Theemling sentenced Dwayne Wilson to the maximum three concurrent, 30-year prison terms, and one 10-year term to be served consecutive to the 30-year term. Wilson will have to serve 34 years before becoming eligible for parole at the age of 77.

Theemling found no mitigating factors in Dwayne Wilson's favor, not even his mental illness. After the sentencing, one of the defendant's attorneys said there will likely be an appeal of the sentence.

"The fact that he said there is no mitigating factor is both factually and legally unfounded," said defense attorney Michelle Adubato.

Paris Wilson and the estates of his siblings have filed a civil suit against Jersey City and two 911 call takers, claiming the two children might have survived if the 911 calls made by a man in the building had not been botched.

"The year of her death was the best year of her life and ours," said Paris of his mother while addressing the court. "She was so proud. She finally got a good job, a place for us to live and food on the table."

Survivor of family murder tries to get justice suit back in court after being dismissed by judge

Thursday, February 04, 2010
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NEWARK - Court proceedings are ongoing in one of Jersey City's most horrific crimes.

On Sept. 20, 2005, Dwayne Wilson, stabbed and killed his sister, and two of her young children, but a third child, Paris, who was 9 at the time, survived the frenzied attack inside the family's Wegman Parkway home.

Attorneys representing Paris, now 14 and living in Carteret with a guardian, and the estate of the two deceased children - brother, DeQuan, 11, and sister, Dartagania, 11 - brought a civil suit against two Jersey City 911 operators, a dispatcher, two police officers, and the city itself, claiming the two other children could have been saved if mistakes in handling and responding to 911 calls were not made.

In April, Superior Court Judge Frances Antonin dismissed the case, saying plaintiffs' attorneys failed to prove the defendants had a "willful or wanton disregard for plaintiffs' safety," which would have superseded their right to immunity.

Yesterday, the plaintiffs' attorney - Brian C. Harris and Patrick J. Boyle - sought to overturn Antonin's ruling before a three-judge appellate panel.

Boyle said Paris has testified that while his mother - Marcia Wilson - died soon after being wounded, his sister and brother lived for several hours.

Paris saved himself by calling 911 after drifting in and out of consciousness for 34 hours.

But Paris was not the first person to call 911.

A neighbor, Anthony Andrews, called 911 twice: at 12:47 a.m. the night of the stabbing after he heard "screams" and again 22 hours later.

But Andrews gave the address as 185 Wegman Parkway, when the actual address is 207 Wegman Parkway or 185 Martin Luther King Drive. The wrong address led police to a three-family house 200 feet away.

Harris argued the 911 call takers were not properly trained.

When Andrews called again 22 hours later asking why no one responded to his first call, the call taker told him to call back on a non-emergency line, Harris said.

Lyndhurst based attorney, Michael A. Cifelli, who represents five individual defendants, said the call takers followed protocol.

Why does the homicidal personality get to have the best name in this story?

May set trial date today in gruesome triple-murder case

Friday, August 21, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A trial date may be set today in the case of the Jersey City man with multiple personalities charged with the gruesome murder of his sister and two of her children in their Greenville apartment in September 2005.

Dwayne Wilson, 41, is charged with the stabbing deaths of Marcia Wilson, 35, her daughter, Dartagania, and her son, DeQuan, both 11, in the family's Wegman Parkway home.

He is also charged with stabbing his sister's 9-year-old son Paris multiple times.

The boy survived and called police when he regained consciousness more than a day later.

Both defense and prosecution experts have determined Wilson suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Wilson's homicidal personality is named "Kiko."

At a previous hearing, Hudson County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Debra Simon said that based on psychological evaluations, Wilson believed he was stabbing his father, who abused him as a child. She noted Wilson's father was deceased at the time of the murders.

Superior Court Judge Fred Theemling has said that his approach to the case would be to consider Wilson's other personalities as aspects of himself and not as distinct individuals. Wilson thus can be found responsible for acts committed by one of his other personalities.

Today's hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. before Theemling in the Hudson County Administration Building on Newark Avenue in Jersey City.

Judge dismisses lawsuit charging 911 bungle

Monday, May 04, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the city by the father of three children who were brutally stabbed - two of them fatally - allegedly by Dwayne Wilson in their Jersey City home in 2005. The suit charged the city bungled 911 calls concerning the incident, officials said.

The children's father, D'Artagnan Manzano, sued the city, Police Officers Jose M. Santana and Ernest Vidal, 911 operator Laura Jean Petersen and radio dispatcher Michael E. Clark.

Manzano's attorneys claimed the 911 operator and radio dispatcher failed to solicit vital information from Anthony Andrews, a next door neighbor who called 911 to report "screaming," a woman and child yelling "No, no, no," and "breaking glass," at 12:47 a.m.

Judge Frances Antonin dismissed the case on April 15, writing that the plaintiff failed to show evidence "of willful or wanton disregard for plaintiff's safety" on the part of 911 call takers and police dispatchers that would have superseded their right to immunity.

Manzano's attorneys have filed a notice to appeal.

Andrews mistakenly gave the address of 185 Wegman Parkway, because the Martin Luther King Drive apartment building has an entrance on Wegman Parkway with an awning that says 185.

Paris Wilson, now 12, speaks about family slaughter in 2005

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
Sunday May 03, 2009, 6:14 PM

Memories of the murder of his mother, sister, and brother are never far from the thoughts of Paris Wilson, who was 9-years-old in 2005 when he miraculously survived the carnage that took place inside a Jersey City apartment.

"When I talk about it I can still see the scene and the room -- there was a lot of blood," said Paris, now 12, said on Friday about the stabbing of his mother, Marcia Wilson, 35, sister Dartagania, and brother DeQuan, both 11, late Sept. 19 or early Sept. 20, 2005, in the family's Greenville home.

Accompanied by his father, D'artagnan Manzano, the boy came to the offices of The Jersey Journal on Friday to recount his ordeal.

Paris said his uncle, Dwayne Wilson, went to their apartment that night to bake a cake for Paris' birthday and committed the murders following the celebration during a dispute over money.

Paris said after having cake he and his siblings went to his mother's bedroom to say good night and Wilson came in holding a knife behind his back, saying "stuff about money." The boy said his uncle snapped and wielded the knife in a homicidal rage.

"My sister was on the edge of the bed and he stabbed her and then he tried to get to my mom and we tried to get him but he pushed me on the floor and broke my ribs," Paris said.

The panicking family wrapped themselves in bed sheets as though to protect themselves but he stabbed them through the sheets, Paris said.

"My mom was saying 'Dwayne, no,'" Paris said.

"I didn't really realize what was happening. I was in shock," said Paris who fell beside the bed and was stabbed multiple times on his exposed left side.

After the attack his uncle stormed out of the apartment, Paris said.

"My mother was deceased because he slit her throat," Paris said. "My sister was still alive -- she was crying. I heard my brother say it had to be a dream."

Paris, who was stabbed in the arm, chest and side, passed out from blood loss. He remembers regaining and losing consciousness several times before finally dialing 911 more than 30 after the attack.

"I remember waking up again, I think it was at nighttime that same night," said Paris who now lives with an aunt in Carteret. "I remember turning on the TV and it said 10 o'clock.

"The next time I woke up my brother was talking to me and he had gotten out of the room and had gone to look for my mom's cell phone," said Paris, adding that he heard his brother's voice but could not see him.

Paris said the next time he woke he grabbed the television antenna and took a swipe at a telephone on a windowsill above him. The phone fell near enough for him to reach it and he dialed 911.

"I was awake until the police got there," Paris said. "They asked if I could open the door and I said no and they kicked down the door and they came in the room and said 'I have a live one here,'" Paris said.

Emergency medical technicians with the police placed Paris on a stretcher and rushed him to the hospital in critical condition.

Paris' father, Dartagnan Manzano, 43, of South Carolina, is a truck driver and he was on the road at the time. He said he'd never known Dwayne Wilson to have a temper.

"He was a heavy drinker but he was never violent that I ever saw," said Manzano.

Wilson told police he smoked crack on the night of the murders. He said he could not remember the attack, but only waking with the knife in his hand and seeing the carnage.

Defense and prosecution experts say Dwayne Wilson has split personalities. The alleged murderer is a personality named "Kiko."

Paris said he didn't know his mother and siblings were dead until an aunt told him at the hospital.

"I started crying because I thought I would be alone," he said.

If the Police or the 911 operator couldn't contact the caller, your next step is to trace the call and go to the address - it should be standard practise / procedure. (As I mentioned earlier)

What if it was the victim telling the 911 operator that I've just been shot, then passes out without giving an address?

The Police / 911 operator I hope would trace the call for an address - this should be done on both occasions.

Another scenario is the Police getting a call for help but it turns out to be a set-up and Officers are killed - would they trace the call for the address then?

911 calls should ALL be treated as an emergency regardless of the outcome and false calls should have a huge penalty.

Whenever you call 911, get the operator# and record the time of the call. If they don't show up, call the chief and find out what happened to the call citing the operator # and time of call.

GWB - thanks for the link - I always felt that restraining orders were a joke, what happened to this woman is truly horrifying.

In the late 1980's, I dialed 911 when I was awakened by an intruder coming through my window.

The police never even showed up. In the morning, I called Glenn Cunningham and he got a squad car sent over.

I wouldn't count on 911 in JC for anything. Completely useless.

SCOTUS again added to a LONG list of case law stating that the cops don't owe anyone protection last year.


http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype ... 5/06/yesterdayas_dec.html

The wrinkle in the latest case was the existence of a lawful restraining order. The question was did the police have a duty to provide for constant enforcement or immediate enforcement upon violation of the order by the order's target.

The answer was no.

This case is a non-starter. At the end of the day, you've only got one person you can count on to protect you.



GWB

Quote:

The article mentioned that they tried calling the witness back but they couldn't get through.

Not defending the what happened in this particular instance, but before we go bashing the 911 operator maybe we should get the other side to the story. Having worked with call centers, I can tell you that it's hard enough to get people to be inquisitive and creative when they are incentivized to do so (through their paycheck), much less a city employee. The stressful and variety of situations these people must deal with is truly enormous, and they should get the respect of the benefit of the doubt. As horrible as this situation was, it was probably just an honest mistake all around.

I also find it interesting that the responses to this story have focused on how horrible the 911 operator was, and not the perpetrator of the crime, or the fact that only one neighbor called it in.

Quote:

Hear hear!

My understanding is that it is illegal to call 911 and make a false report to an emergency or give a false address to an emergency.

Once the police arrived to the wrong address, they should called the 911 operator and requested that they track / trace the source of the complaint via the telephone.

By doing that, they could have spoken to the initial 911 caller for more information or charged them for making a false alarm call to 911.

Police must have a policy dealing with 'crank' calls to 911, this way if it was a mistake by the caller, a trace can be made to take the appropriate action - either calling them back or going to the point of origin. (address of the caller)

This is BASIC policing procedures, especially if the 2 officers just went back to 'general patrolling' and not to another emergency.

Quote:

I don't know what the "wrong address" rules really are, but it sounds as if the cops really didn't do anything wrong and the city's 911 rules probably weren't at fault here. There probably isn't any practical way for the city to fully investigate every messed up 911 call its gets.

But it sounds as if the woman who answered the telephone was just plain rude.

It would be great if some deep pocket somewhere would help cover the boy's living expenses, but what I would really like is for the woman who answered the telephone to be put in stocks in front of the Journal Square PATH station for a few days. She deserves to have some rotten tomatoes thrown at her.

What a painful story. Whatever the judge/jury decide (I really don't know what call I'd make), I really feel for the people.

COPS BLAMED IN $200M LAWSUIT
Jersey City police accused of bungling 911 call as Wilson mom, two kids died in home
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Two children brutally murdered along with their mother in their Jersey City home last year could have survived if police officers and 911 workers hadn't bungled the response to an emergency call made by a neighbor, according to a $200 million lawsuit filed by the children's father.

On Sept. 19 or 20, 2005, Marcia Wilson, 35, her 11-year-old daughter Dartagania and her 11-year-old son DeQuan were stabbed to death in their Wegman Parkway home.

Also stabbed was now-10-year-old Paris Wilson, who regained consciousness long enough on Sept. 21 to call 911. A month later, Marcia Wilson's brother, Dwayne Wilson, 38, was arrested and charged in the attacks.

The building where the murders occurred is at 207 Wegman Parkway and also has an address of 185 Martin Luther King Drive. On the night of the murders, building resident Anthony Andrews heard "a woman and a child yelling 'No, no, no, no, no' and also heard glass breaking," according to the suit, which was filed Aug. 24 in state Superior Court in Jersey City.

But when he used his cell phone to call 911 just after midnight on Sept. 20, he apparently confused the building's two addresses, saying it was 185 Wegman Parkway, according to a transcript of the call provided by Patrick Boyle, the attorney representing Paris Wilson and D'Artagnan Manzano, the father of all three children.

Police went to 185 Wegman Parkway and found a vacant house. The dispatcher called Andrews but got no answer and didn't leave a message, Boyle said.

"We don't believe they acted with the seriousness that is beholden the task given people handling life threatening situations," he said during an interview yesterday. "It is certainly true that Paris' brother and sister's lives could have been saved if police had responded with more diligence to the first 911 call."

Boyle said the 911 operator didn't get enough information from Andrews, and that officers should not have gone back on patrol but instead should have tried to find the right address, which was 247 feet away and visible, according to the suit. Andrews and his sister waited at a window for hours for police, the suit says.

At 11 p.m., almost 24 hours later, Andrews dialed 911 again and asked why police never came. He said he'd seen a man run from the building and speed off in a car. The operator asked him if he had a life threatening situation at that moment and Andrews said "No, it would have happened last night," according to the transcript.

The operator told him to call a non-emergency police number and the call ended with Andrews saying, "See, they should have come yesterday."

He apparently never called the other number.

"To classify this call as a 'non-emergency' call defies common sense, and of course ignores the truth that Paris Wilson was still waiting for help and his siblings were dead or dying," Boyle said.

In addition to the city, the suit names Police Officers Jose M. Santana and Ernest Vidal, 911 operator Laura Jean Petersen and radio dispatcher Michael E. Clark.

D'Artagnan Manzano filed the suit as an individual, as well as on behalf of Paris Wilson and the estates of his murdered children.

Jersey City Deputy Police Chief Peter Nalbach said the department would not comment on ongoing litigation.

The lawsuit quotes a Jersey City police memorandum from Sept. 29 saying the officers who responded acted properly and could not have been expected to find the house where the murders occurred.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said: "The transcript of the call speaks for itself. Police went to the address that was relayed by the caller."