WET PALM BEACH, Fla. — Marla McKenny is the grieving mother of 18-year-old Kelvi McRay, the victim in a murder-suicide in March.
"I feel like my daughter called the wrong number," she said Monday about a 911 call.
To this day she questions how West Palm Beach police handled the response to her daughter's domestic violence case.
"Maybe if she called the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department, maybe Riviera she'd still be here. West Palm Beach didn't help her," she said.
McCray was killed March 6, investigators say by her former boyfriend, Keisean Shaw, 19. They say he shot McCray while she talked with friends on Facetime.
McKenny said video from an incident the day before McCray was killed shows how much they believe he was a danger to McCray.
"I was there, I was in the house when it happened," she said.
Shaw was ultimately arrested but died the next day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head while in the hospital.
On Monday, McKenny and her attorneys claimed the West Palm Beach Police Department failed to keep her daughter safe from Shaw even though there was never a restraining order previously filed and Shaw had been living at the family's home.
"After the pursuit was called off at no point did any of the officers offer Miss McCray a safe place to go," attorney Nicholas Johnson said. "They didn't offer to relocate her to an undisclosed location to keep her safe from someone who was foreseeable to come back and possibly commit another violent crime, and that's exactly what happened the very next day."
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WPTV contacted the West Palm Beach Police Department for a response or at least a clarification about the agency's policy on domestic violence cases and the agency said they offered her services.
Stuart Kaplan, a former FBI agent and now practicing attorney, said domestic violence policies vary from department to department.
"I can tell you they all have references or victim advocates, meaning to refer victims if they are the victim of domestic violence to other resources for them to get assistance. For example to put them in a shelter or to get them counseling but it is not a legal obligation that's put on law enforcement to mandate or force upon a potential victim that he or she insist they leave the home and put themselves up in a hotel," he said.
McKenney's attorneys say they have filed a public records request for documents to continue their investigation. They also say they plan to bring a claim against the city. If that isn't resolved within six months, they intend to file a lawsuit.
McKenny said things must change.
"It's really hard. I just don't want this to happen to another one. I don't want another Kelvi McCray," she said.
