Dallas

Wheelchair Stolen From Woman Left Paralyzed After Unanswered 911 Calls

Benefits are a challenge after gunshot wound

A donated wheelchair may help relieve some of the burden for a Dallas woman who was left paralyzed after she says several 911 calls about a man with a gun went unanswered.

Roxanna Mayo's wheelchair was recently stolen from her caregiver's car in a parking lot outside her apartment.

After NBC 5 reported her story Wednesday evening, a donor purchased a new wheelchair for her.

NBC 5 picked it up and delivered it to her on Thursday.

City records show Mayo was shot in January 2015 by her former boyfriend well after the calls that only received a police response after her injury.

"It is like one thing after another, and the people that I think are supposed to help me don't help," Mayo said.

The shooting survivor has also been struggling with Medicaid red tape to obtain benefits she needs for her daily care. Ten letters from the state in the past month detail conflicting answers to her requests.

But help may be coming for that, too.

Before her injury she ran a salon in an Uptown Dallas high-rise.

"Life was good back then. I was happy. I felt like I was helping other people, my family," Mayo said.

Now, a bullet remains in her spine, and former boyfriend Quadriq Sharper is serving a 20-year sentence for the crime. But Mayo said she has not found justice.

"Sometimes I feel like nobody cares," Mayo said.

Her current lawyer, Emmanuel Obi, has a lawsuit pending against the city of Dallas and AT&T, which provides Dallas 911 service.

"Every citizen in this city should be concerned about this issue, because there has in fact been a series of these cases," Obi said.

January 2015 recordings of the 911 calls make it clear the woman's daughter told an operator the man had a gun and was a threat to the woman before the shooting occurred.

"Have you seen the gun on him today?" the operator asked.

"I know he has the gun on him," the daughter replied.

"Did you see it on him today?" operator asked.

"Yes, ma'am," the daughter replied.

A city of Dallas human resources discipline document in the lawsuit file said the call taker failed to report the information about a gun.

"This vital information would have upgraded the priority of the call and alerted officers to a safety issue," the document said.

Obi said systemic problems with Dallas 911 procedures and technology are to blame for the delayed response to this and other emergencies.

"This is in essence what our 911 system is here for," Obi said. "We can't just put Band-Aids on these problems. We've got to fix it for real because lives matter."

In court papers, both the city of Dallas and AT&T have denied any wrongdoing.

An AT&T representative said the company declined comment Wednesday.

The city of Dallas has declined comment on this incident for three years. Representatives have said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

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