Murphy City Manager’s report on toddler death clears officer’s actions

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

The Collin County Observer has obtained a copy of the Murphy City Manager's report (PDF) on the police and paramedic's handling of the 9-1-1 call and death of toddler, Matthew Cantrell.

The report, by then interim City Manager Jim Berzina, was written in October, 2007 - a week after the tragic death of Matthew. In his report, Mr. Berzina states he reviewed the 9-1-1 tapes as well as the "in car" camera and recording system used by the police. He states that the "in car" system was left on in both units, and was able to record the voices of the responding officers.

Mr. Berzina then examines three issues that he thought caused citizen concern.

* Did the police block the entrance of the paramedics?

Mr. Berzina states that the first officer arrived approx. six minutes after receiving the call. The second officer arrived less than 15 seconds later. He says that that there was a "little delay" in getting someone to answer the door, but it was finally opened by the older brother of the victim. One officer was then "occupied with removing the mother from her close proximity to the child. The second officer began checking for signs of life...Almost immediately, the Fire Department Paramedics were at the door and were let in. One officer informed them that he thought the child was deceased, but they can come in and do their work."

Mr. Berzina goes on to assert that, "I am absolutely satisfied that after talking to the Police and Fire Chiefs that no time was lost in rendering aid to the victim due to Police Personnel blocking their entrance to the scene."

* Did the police provide proper life saving techniques when first arriving at the scene?

Berzina points out that his investigation shows that the paramedics arrived only two minutes behind the officers. After gaining entrance and, "dealing with the mother and making an initial check of the condition of the victim" there was no opportunity for the officer to render aid before help arrived.

* Was the mother detained/interrogated at the police station?

Mr. Berzina wrote that after listening to the tapes and talking to the officers, he believed that the mother was "beyond hysterical" and the officers were concerned that she could be a "definite risk to herself". Berzina insists that the Police acted as "her friend" and took her, along with some of her friends to the Police Station and later to the hospital, where she spent the night. Berzina states, "I really believe our personnel acted correctly in this situation."

A city official also pointed out to the Observer that the Fire Chief interviewed by WFAA was not Chief at the time of the incident. I was told that Chief Stalder was the Fire Chief at the time and he did read the reports.

The City Manager's report did not address the issues with the 9-1-1 dispatcher or the 2 1/2 minute delay in summoning help, nor does it explain a six minute response time by the police and an eight minute response time by paramedics.