A New Mexico teen is dead after a dispatcher hung up on a caller who needed emergency medical assistance because she used profanity in the call. The teen, Jaydon Chavez-Silver, died after being shot while attending a house party on July 26th. When a friend called 911 in a panic, the dispatcher responding, Matthew Sanchez, hung up, refusing help because the caller used profanity after he had asked her multiple times if Chavez-Silver was breathing.
“I’m keeping him alive!” the terrified caller is heard telling Sanchez.
“OK, is he not breathing?” Sanchez asks.
“Barely!” the caller says. “One more breath! One more breath!” she says as she consoles her mortally wounded friend. “There you go Jaydon. One more breath! There you go Jaydon. Good job! Just stay with me, OK? OK? There you go, good job Jaydon!”
“Is he breathing?” the dispatcher asks once again.
“He’s barely breathing,” the exasperated caller says. “How many times do I have to fucking tell you?”
“OK, you know what ma’am? You can deal with it yourself. I am not going to deal with this, OK?”
“No, my friend is dying, I need …” the caller pleads with the dispatcher, but the call cuts out.
An investigation hasn’t yielded any results in finding the shooter of the crime, but the dispatcher has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation to determine whether his actions may have delayed life-saving medical assistance for the boy. The teen’s mother told a local news station of the call:
“After hearing the call today, it is heartbreaking to listen to. Right now, we just want to find the people responsible for this violent, deadly crime.”
Chavez-silver was a wrestler and football player at his high school. Friends and relatives say he was a great kid with a good head on his shoulders, and he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had arrived to the party only minutes before the shooting occurred.
