Family files suit, claims KC police mishandled daughter’s 911 call after DeValkenaere case
The family of a murdered 24-year-old mother sued the Kansas City Police Department this week, claiming officers mishandled her 911 call for help due to an unofficial policy that arose following the conviction of detective Eric DeValkenaere.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court stems from the 2022 murder of Mackenzie Hopkins during a brutal attack that also left her then 4-year-old daughter, Bella, suffering from severe head trauma.
Shannon and Tiffany Hopkins and their daughter’s estate have sued the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, the Kansas City Police Department, Police Chief Stacey Graves and officers Matthew Fox and Tyler Hayes.
The two officers responded to her 911 call, but left without going inside 12 hours before Hopkins was found dead. The lawsuit alleges that the officers failed to conduct a thorough investigation, and did not enter the home despite clear signs of an ongoing emergency.
“I believe if they hadn’t manufactured a policy in their minds, my daughter most definitely would have had a much greater chance of survival,” Shannon Hopkins told The Star Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department declined to comment about the lawsuit.
“Generally, we do not comment on pending litigation to ensure fairness for all parties involved,” said Sgt. Phil DiMartino with Kansas City police.
911 call made morning of Hopkins murder
Mackenzie Hopkins was found dead, submerged in a bathtub, on the night of Jan. 15, 2022. She had been beaten severely. Her daughter was found critically hurt on her bed.
The attacker, 32-year-old Jose E. Escalante-Corchado, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree assault and was sentenced to 30 years in Missouri prison on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. He is currently serving his sentence at the Potosi Correctional Center.
On the day of her murder, Hopkins had made plans to be with family. After not hearing from her, Shannon Hopkins started to worry and eventually decided to check on them. Halfway there, he called police to do a welfare check.
Officers arrived shortly before him and when he arrived, they asked if he could open the door. As he put the key in, the door pushed open. As police turned on their flashlights, blood could be seen on the floor.
During the investigation, detectives learned that police officers had responded to her home about 12 hours earlier in the day after a 911 call was placed on her cellphone.
According to the lawsuit, Hopkins placed a 911 call 6:01 a.m. The call-taker could hear sounds of a disturbance and people fighting. Officers were dispatched and they arrived minutes after the 911 call was placed. They determined the call was “unfounded” and left.
Escalante-Corchado returned shortly after police left and was there another two hours.
Detectives told Hopkins’ family that the officers couldn’t enter the house because of a policy that came after DeValkenaere, a white Kansas City police detective, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2019 fatal shooting of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb, a Black man. His conviction was upheld on appeal, and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to review it.
DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years, but Missouri Gov-elect Mike Kehoe has said publicly that he would free him, if Gov. Mike Parson doesn’t do it first.
One of the biggest concerns that Shannon Hopkins has had all along about his daughter’s murder, he said, is that police haven’t been forthcoming with what happened that morning and the officers’ specific actions.
“I still, as I continue to ask questions, don’t get any an honest response, or in most cases, any response from the KCPD,” Hopkins said. The autopsy has still not been released.
He said they have found facts have altered after the fact, including the category of the 911 call was initially a Priority 1, but has been changed after the fact to a Priority 2.
It got to the point where they decided they had to be the people to cause change with the lawsuit, he said.
Failed to take call serious
The lawsuit contends there was probable cause or circumstances that indicated urgency existed that would have allowed the officers to enter the home, including the 911 call where people were heard fighting, including one being a male voice.
“Officers were aware that sounds heard on the open line indicated that someone needed emergency assistance to prevent bodily harm and/or death,” the suit said. The call was also listed at that time as a Priority 1.
Based on the officer’s body cameras, Fox and Hayes did not take the 911 call seriously, the lawsuit alleges. There was no discussion or consideration of seeking a warrant or forcing entry to conduct a warrantless search.
The suit alleges there are inconsistencies between the written report and the visual and audible factors, observations and actions of the officers, including “rude, unprofessional, flippant comments, and actions and inactions.”
The suit claims the officers never left the porch, didn’t inspect the windows, doors, or areas other than the porch and front door, or announce they were the police when one officer knocked.
One officer suggested the address may not be correct. Their discussion indicated they didn’t believe it looked like a “disturbance,” but speculated it might be a result of a domestic dispute, according to the suit.
Their discussion also blamed the victim, suggesting that the caller may have been intoxicated or involved in a “medical-induced response to a spouse,” the lawsuit said.
“The verbal discussion between the officers suggested that the officers were inconvenienced by the early morning call and having to respond in the cold, suggesting that the response was a waste of their time as they commented they ‘could have done without this’ when leaving the front porch,” the lawsuit said.
In a meeting on Jan. 18, 2022, detectives told the Hopkins family that Kansas City Police had changed internal policies and that because of that policy, they could not have done anything more, according to the lawsuit.
The policy was reportedly adopted in protest of the DeValkenaere conviction, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses the Kansas City Police Department and its officers of gross negligence and willful misconduct.
“These were not simply discretionary actions/inactions of officers who failed to go far enough,” the lawsuit said. “Instead, defendants failed to follow the official written policies and procedures in place.”
Hopkins said that they hope to cause change with the lawsuit. He said while they have discussed it, they haven’t completely decided what that change needs to be or even where to start.
“So many things went wrong that morning when she called 911,” Hopkins said.
A start would be having a policy in place that would prevent officers from ignoring policies because they are upset about the conviction of a fellow officer, he said.
There needs to be punishment so that “officers wouldn’t be able to make decision like that based on their personal attitudes and disappointment with something that’s happened to one of theirs,” Hopkins said.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 5:29 PM.
