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Hamilton Co. Prosecutor blames Emergency Call Center for Kyle Plush's death

399 views · Published 9 May 2018 · 2:58 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI, Ohio (WKRC) - “A perfect storm of tragedy” is how Prosecutor Joe Deters describes the death of 16-year-old Kyle Plush.

Deters' office issued a grand jury subpoena that stopped the release of the police department's internal report.

Law and Public Safety Committee Chairman Chris Smitherman got the subpoena just before the meeting was to start on Wednesday, asking for all interviews, videos and photos regarding Plush's death.

The hearing was called off for now. Plush's family were the only speakers listed.

"The message I get from them is ‘I want the 911 Call Center fixed so it never happens again to another family’,” said Vice Mayor Chris Smitehrman.

Deters says there are no criminal targets, but reports are still coming in, including one on Wednesday morning.

“It’s a tool to gather evidence. That doesn't mean we're going to convene a grand jury,” said Deters.

When Deters calls Plush's death a “perfect storm that ended in tragedy," he's talking about the city's emergency call center.

When Plush called 911, he couldn't hear one operator. The second operator couldn't hear him, so she couldn't pass on critical information to police.

"It was set in motion by an antiquated 911 system that needs [to be] changed. Period,” said Deters.

The county has what's called Smart 911. Residents register information online that's available to 911 operators. That information can be everything from a special needs family member, someone's blood type or the emergency contact number for children’s' cellphones.

"If they had the county's 911 system, they had logged onto that, would have seen this is coming from Kyle, this is his dad's number, ‘Hey, we got a call from your son, we can't find him’… He would have been there in five minutes. It took half an hour for him [Plush] to die,” said Deters.

Police and the 911 operator had Kyle's cellphone number. They tried to call him back. There was no answer. The Smart 911 profile would have given them another place to go.

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