Woman Called 911. Almost 400 Times for Nonexistent Emergencies, and One Time It Killed a Man Serial Abuse
A 34-year-old woman in Ohio pleaded guilty to what the prosecutors called “serial 911 abuse” after calling for hundreds of situations that didn’t exist. One of these calls caused someone to die.
Kesha S. Kennedy, of Zanesville, “pleaded guilty to felony disrupting public services, felony making false alarms, and 25 counts of misdemeanor misuse of 911 systems,” according to a news statement from the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office on July 15.
There was a press statement saying that Kennedy had been using “local first responders for her entertainment for ambulance rides to the hospital,” which meant that emergency services couldn’t handle real emergencies.
Judge Mark C. Fleegle saw her in Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas on Friday, July 12.
The court heard that Kennedy had called 911 almost 400 times since 2020, supposedly for different illnesses. He did this more than once a week and sometimes more than once in one day.
According to the report, a South Zanesville Fire Department (SZFD) responder couldn’t help someone who was having trouble breathing because they were busy with Kennedy’s “fake call.”
What happened to the person who was having trouble breathing? “In another case, SZFD was short-staffed for a fire because people were helping with Kennedy,” the report said.
When PEOPLE asked SZFD for a reaction, they didn’t answer right away.
Kennedy kept calling Genesis Hospital, but they kept telling her that “she had no medical issues or emergencies.” The release said that she still needed to have a preliminary evaluation. The transportation and hospital trips were paid for by taxpayers through Medicaid.
Before Kennedy pleaded guilty, she was checked out by a forensic doctor. In court, John Litle, an assistant prosecutor for Muskingum County, said that she had “a factitious disorder,” which means she lied.
Little said in the release, “Obviously there needs to be some kind of check or balance in place so that this kind of abuse is reported to police more quickly by EMS because 350 unnecessary ambulance runs are completely ridiculous.”
Kennedy will be given a term later.