AUDIO: 911 Call Released In Deadly Shooting Of Miramar Mother
MIRAMAR (CBS4) – Miramar Police have released the chilling 911 call made by a man claiming his toddler fatally shot the boy's mother.
And relatives of the boy's mother tell CBS4's Peter D'Oench that while the father of boy seems genuinely upset, they are now wittholding their opinions as to whether the father is at fault and whether he should face charges.
"He has a lot of explaining to du," said the victim's uncle Hugh Pearce. But he told D'Oench after listening to the 911 tape, "It's up to the investigators. It's up to the police. I can't say very much right now."
In the recording, the father, who has not been identified, frantically asked for help from the operator after Julia Bennett, 33, was gunned down with a 9 millimeter, semi-automatic glock pistol.
Operator: OK, who shot her?
Caller: I was trying to take the gun from him, I was trying to take the gun from him.
Operator: From who? From who?
Caller: From my son, from my son.
Operator: Ok so he accidentally shot her?
Caller: No, I took it from him.. (inaudible). I can't believe it, pray to God
The call was placed to emergency Wednesday evening around 7 p.m. from unit 303 at the Ashlar Apartments off Pembroke Road near University Drive.
Operator: Where is she shot?
Caller: She's shot in the back of the arm. The back. In the back of the arm.
Caller: God help me, god help me.
Operator: Just calm down, ok we're getting rescue on the way ok?
Fire Rescue rushed Bennett to the hospital, where she died from her injuries.
"I can't deal with it, I can't deal with it," said Laura Henry, a close friend of Julia Bennett, who joined Bennett's loved ones in listening to the 911 tape. They asked that CBS4 play the tape for them.
The child's hands were swabbed by police to test for gunshot residue. Those results have not been released.
Bennett's relatives originally told CBS4 that they have serious doubts about the boy's father's claims that the toddler pulled the trigger.
"We're not buying it," Bennett's uncle Hugh Pearce told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "We just don't think it happened that way. But we want to see police finish their investigation."
The child has been placed with Bennett's relatives while police conduct their investigation.
"My understanding is that he does not understand what happened," Pearce said. "He thinks his Mom has gone to work…I feel the family will get through this. The family will heal."
Family members told D'Oench that services for Bennett will be held this Saturday, April 30th, at the Fellowship Apostolic Church in Miramar. They hope that her father will be flying in for services from New York. It's not known if Bennett's mother will be able to make the trip from Jamaica.
CLICK HERE to listen to the entire 911 call.
