Sheila Shepperd and daughter, Maria

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It’s five years today, and Billie Shepperd still hasn’t received an apology. No one in the DC government could be bothered to pick up the phone to express remorse or even offer condolences. This complete lack of compassion occurred even though the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser has an enormous amount to be sorry for surrounding the death of Shepperd’s daughter Sheila.

This story starts with a tragic DC911 mistake after Sheila Shepperd’s daughter, Maria, called 911 when her mom collapsed in front of her. As happens way too often, a 911 call-taker entered the wrong quadrant of the city into the dispatch computer. Sheila and Maria lived in the 400 block of Ogelthorpe Street Northeast. DC Fire and EMS crews were sent to the 400 block of Oglethorpe Street Northwest. Only after Maria, as she followed the call-taker’s instructions and pushed on her mom’s chest, asked why help hadn’t arrived that the call-taker realized she screwed up.

The truth about June 5, 2020, would be bad enough if it were just about that tragic mistake we remember today. The truth is much worse. It’s about cruelty, a complete lack of compassion, and a cover-up that left a 13-year-old girl wondering if she made a mistake when her mother needed her the most.

If not for a national publication following up on the original STATter 911 story about the quadrant mix-up, it’s likely Maria and her family still wouldn’t know who made the mistake. And if not for a couple of fed-up DC Office of Unified Communications employees doing what the agency never does, we’d likely still be in the dark about the error. They released the 911 recording in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Communications Daily. Considering OUC’s history during the Bowser Administration, it’s almost a miracle that the recording of Maria’s call didn’t stay buried.

Five months had passed until the Shepherds and the public heard for themselves Maria clearly say “Northeast” (audio above). During those five months, OUC was asked at least four times – including twice in public forums – specific questions about that botched 911 call. OUC ignored an email and a phone call from STATter911 about the incident. That has long been the routine with OUC. More disappointing is that in a DC Council hearing and during a radio show, the director of OUC acted as if she had never heard of the case. It’s a 911 director’s job to know of mistakes like this one. As reporter Mark Segraves later told Muriel Bowser when the mayor said she wasn’t sure if she had heard the call from the 13-year-old girl asking for help for her dying mom, “You’d remember it. It’s pretty heart-wrenching.”

On that same November day that reporters questioned the mayor about the botched 911 call, there was an apology from OUC. It came in a statement sent to the news media. Despite that, no one in the Bowser administration had the decency to send that statement to Billie Shepperd, or Maria, or to just pick up the phone. Billie Shepperd, soon to turn 85, is still waiting.

If I had to pinpoint just one incident that fuels my reporting on DC’s continuing 911 crisis, it’s this one. It’s not the mistake. It’s the cold and heartless attitude toward a victim. It’s the inability of Mayor Bowser to admit what happened to the Shepperds is because of poor training and leadership at her 911 center.

Here we are, five years later and the same poor training and supervision results in the same errors. On Memorial Day, at least four EMS and fire calls were sent to the wrong quadrant of the city. And just like five years ago, OUC’s director, the deputy mayor, the city administrator, and the mayor still refuse to acknowledge when serious mistakes are made. They continue to withhold recordings and data from the public, reporters, and even council members. They blatantly ignore the law that now requires OUC to publish their mistakes monthly. Worst of all, they continue to treat other suffering families with the same disregard and disrespect the Shepperd family received.

To fully understand the cover-up that left a young girl haunted with self-doubt for five months, I urge you to read my detailed account in this 2022 post titled, “DC 911 director kept forgetting an unforgettable & tragic call.”

This morning, I checked in with Billie Shepperd. She told me Maria just finished her first year of college and is doing very well. Of course, she spoke lovingly about her daughter Sheila, whom the family called “Shelle”.  She has long hoped that Shelle’s death would spark important improvements at DC911, but recognizes that is not the case. A few years back, she said, “The right person hasn’t died yet.”

The Shepperds remain particularly concerned that the lack of transparency and accountability surrounding Shelle’s death continues. They have heard the stories of other families receiving the same treatment. For that, Billie Shepperd says, “They should hold their heads in shame.”