The Los Angeles Police Department fired two officers who visited the apartment of UCLA student Andrea “Andy” DelVesco shortly after she was killed in September 2015.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck fired Rhoadell Sudduth in May and Alisha Williams in September, according to documents obtained by CNN.
An internal LAPD investigation found both officers guilty of misconduct because they responded to an emergency call from DelVesco’s neighbor but did not enter DelVesco’s apartment.
[Related: LAPD visited UCLA student’s building hours before finding her body]
Sarah Muhr, DelVesco’s neighbor, called 911 at 6:18 a.m. and said she heard screams coming from DelVesco’s apartment. Four officers, including Sudduth and Williams, arrived three to four minutes later and looked around Muhr’s and DelVesco’s apartment complex before leaving.
Sudduth said his partner, Thomas Montague, shined a flashlight into DelVesco’s living room and bedroom but did not see anyone in either room, according to CNN. Sudduth’s and Williams’ attorney, Robert Rico, said the officers considered knocking on doors, but Sudduth concluded there was not enough evidence of a crime to justify waking up residents.
Rico added he did not think the officers could have saved DelVesco’s life by knocking on doors because she was killed before the officers arrived.
The DelVesco family said they were not notified that LAPD terminated Sudduth and Williams, according to CNN.
It must be very difficult for street police officers to do the right thing these days because you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Terminating two careers under these circumstances seems a little drastic and perhaps self serving for the administration of LAPD in an environment of great public scrutiny every time they respond to a call for service. This is a sad story for two officers whose lives are wrecked and careers ruined because they made a questionably incorrect decision. Can anyone in their right mind come to believe that they conscientiously disregarded their duties?