By Desiree Stennett
The Orlando Sentinel
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Deborah Watson spent the final moments of her life begging for help as she watched her two friends be shot to death and described the terrifying scene to a 911 operator.
“My friend just got shot,” Watson told operator Tamela Moses about 9:40 p.m. March 17 before giving the address of the incident. “We’re homeless; it’s a camp. It’s a barn, actually. Please hurry up.”
Richard Button, 65, had already been shot in the head. In the background of the call, the sound of a gunshot was followed by the drunken voice of a suspected shooter saying, “Yep, another one dead,” as Todd Lemme was killed.
One more shot — presumably the one that killed Watson — was overheard on the call just before the line went dead.
Within four minutes, 16 deputies had arrived with several paramedics. They searched in the dark and rainy woods for about two hours but never found the victims.
In that time, another dispatcher received a 911 call. The caller lived in an adjacent subdivision and told 911 operator Porscha Williams that she could hear deputies searching behind her home and again mentioned that there was an abandoned barn on the property that should be checked.
Still, the responding deputies knew nothing about the barn and had no idea they could have been met by an armed suspect who was still in the area.
That’s because Moses never mentioned to the responding deputies that she could hear the gunshots or the suspect talking in the background. Both women also failed to pass along the information about the barn, according to a 53-page summary of an internal review of the incident released Wednesday.
Moses even went on to say that she called back and spoke to Watson after the first call ended, something deputies say was impossible because the sound of the bullet that killed Watson was heard on the first call, which was not publicly released.
Moses was fired after her actions were found to be “unsatisfactory” and it was determined that she lied about placing a follow-up call. Williams resigned during the investigation.
Family members of the victims called the Sheriff’s Office negligent in the handling of the case.
“Three people are dead, and someone has to take responsibility for that,” said Button’s niece, Tammy Button-Quiles. “This could have been prevented if even one officer had proper information. ... Since they didn’t, three people are dead.”
Though investigators say nothing could have saved the victims from their severe injuries, Williams and Moses were blamed for the extra 12 hours it took to find the bodies and the extra 17 days it took to arrest Leonard Lewis on first-degree-murder charges.
Deputies spoke with Lewis, Watson’s abusive ex-boyfriend, the night of the shooting, but with no victims and no evidence of a crime, he was released after he claimed he knew nothing about the investigation.
Melinda Clifft, Lemme’s niece, still thinks deputies might have been able to do something to at least prevent Watson’s shooting had they arrived earlier.
“You just never know,” Clifft said. “That’s the hardest part. It’s not fair. You can’t bring back a family member.”
Moses had several excuses for how she handled the 911 call.
First she claimed she thought Watson said she was in a bar and not a barn. Then she said a medical condition may have impaired her judgment. Then, finally, she said she was “tired” and not “coherent enough to take that call.”
She also said she never heard the shots that killed Lemme and Watson because of “distortions” on the line. Williams, who handed in her resignation 10 days after the shooting, did not offer up any excuses.
Watson’s son, Dan Watson, said he has listened to his mother’s 911 call countless times and still can’t understand how Moses could have left out so much information. Though he hopes the blunder won’t hurt the court case, he is mentally preparing for the worst outcome.
“They would have had him red-handed right there,” Dan Watson said. “Everything hinged on those 911 calls, and none of that info was passed on. This guy could walk free.”
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©2014 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)