Woman Found Murdered 2 days After Calling 911 for Help from Husband

Family members of a slain Dallas woman are angry that the Dallas police didn’t do enough to save her after she called 911 two days earlier to report her ex-husband was attacking her.

Deanna Cook-Patrick, 32, was found dead in her bathtub on Sunday after family members kicked in her front door.

Police say Cook called 911 from her cell phone, delaying the response time by 9 minutes. Once Cook’s address was established, the dispatcher did not inform the officers in the field that Cook was under attack — even though her screams could be heard during the 11-minute 911 call. Police knocked on Cook’s door but left when there was no response.

“In my personal opinion, I don’t think they cared enough. I think they had already given up. Seen it was useless and didn’t think it was worth their time or effort,” the victim’s sister, Valecia Battle, told Fox News.

Police arrested Cook’s ex-husband, Delvecchio Patrick, and charged him with murder. He is being held on $500,000 bail.

Cook and Patrick’s 3-year marriage was a contentious one. Patrick was arrested 3 times for assaulting Cook in the past. He pleaded guilty to all 3 charges. The couple’s divorce was finalized in January.

Family members, including her two teenage daughters, went to Cook’s home on Sunday after they noticed she didn’t attend church services. The family saw water pouring under the front door which was locked. They kicked the door in and found Cook’s body submerged in the tub with the water still running.

Police did not release the 911 call to the media, but family members who heard the audio described Cook’s screams and gasps for breath. They said they could hear Cook dying.

“I could just hear how loud she was screaming,” Karletha Gundy told WFAA News 8 in Dallas. “I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I know she was screaming for her life.”

Gundy described the indifference by police when she called to report Cook missing and asked for a welfare check at her home.

“The lady said, ‘Before we can send an officer out to check, you need to call the hospitals and the jails,’” Gundy said.

“If they could have kicked the door down, maybe she could have been saved,” Gundy said.

The 911 operator who failed to mention the ongoing assault to police defended her actions in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.

“I can say that it’s obvious that there was an active disturbance taking place, the screaming and things like that, so I can’t say that I knew what was going on, other than there was a disturbance,” the operator said. “Obviously my prayers go out to her family, because that’s just a terrible situation.”

Just hours before she was attacked in her home, Deanna Cook tweeted a response to R&B singer Tyrese, who wrote a series of tweets on his Twitter.com account chastising women for staying in abusive relationships.

“Thats why I made the First move,” Deanna tweeted. “Now Dude say He Gone KILL me. Wouldn’t be so bad if he ain’t tried 3 times before, But I’m Gods Child ain’t never scared..”

Lauryn Hill Hit With New Delinquent Tax Bill

Former Fugees group member/rapper Lauryn Hill is facing new tax woes.  According to TMZ.com, the singer, who already owes $1.8 million in back taxes, is also being sued by the state of New Jersey.

According to the state, Lauryn Hill also failed to pay $446,336 in unpaid back taxes, for the year 2007.  In June, Lauryn Hill was charged with failing to pay federal taxes for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.  In June of 2012, she plead guilty to x and now faces three years in prison.

Lauryn Hill is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

I’ve Been Here Before!! Chad Johnson’s Domestic Violence Batterers Certificate from 2001

Leave it to good ole TMZ to find Chad Johnson’s Domestic Violence Batterers’ Treatment Program certificate.

 According to a status report from the program, Chad was cooperative and appeared to make good progress — but “struggled initially with accepting the need to make lifestyle changes as well as minimizing his past behavior.”

The report says Chad eventually came to terms with his problems — and his “risk to re-offend appears low.”

Rihanna’s ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’ May Have Given OWN the Ratings Boost It Needed

 
Oprah Winfrey is tooting her OWN horn today, announcing that her “Oprah’s Next Chapter” episode featuring Rihanna topped all key African American demos in its time period on all of broadcast and ad-supported cable, ranked No. 2 in all of primetime overall among ad-supported cable, and was No. 1 in its time period in women 18-49 among all broadcast and ad-supported cable.
A press release from OWN also points out that the episode “posted triple digit growth across the key demos versus year ago numbers, and was the second highest rated telecast in OWN history.

Following “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” the series premiere of new original series “Lovetown, USA” (10-11 p.m. ET/PT) featuring a unique social experiment on love, marked the network’s second highest series premiere ever in the key demo, behind only “Oprah’s Next Chapter” and tying “Ask Oprah’s All Stars.”

Additionally, the network states, OWN has notched its 31st consecutive week of total day growth across all key demos versus year ago numbers.

“R&B Divas” Most Watched Original Premiere in TV One History

TV One has scored big time with the premiere of its new reality series “R&B Divas.”
The network today announced that the show, which follows Faith Evans, Nicci Gilbert-Daniels, Monifah Carter, Syleena Johnson and Keke Wyatt as they work on a comeback, earned 479,000 viewers during its Monday, 10 p.m. debut – becoming the most watched original premiere in the history of the network.

Nearly 900,000 total viewers tuned in if you factor in the encore airings as well.

“We were confident in the quality of production and that the compelling storytelling deriving from the Divas’ willingness to present their lives so openly and honestly would result in an entertaining series,” said Toni Judkins, TV One EVP of Programming and Production. “We’re pleased that the ratings reflect the viewers’ interest in and support of the show and TV One.”

Wonya Lucas, TV One President and CEO added, “As TV One continues to invest in original programming that reflects the breadth and depth of true Black life, it is encouraging to see the strong viewer response to quality entertainment programming.”

New Music: Brandy – ‘Wildest Dreams’

Brandy finds true love on “Wildest Dreams,” the second single from her RCA/Chameleon Records debut Two Eleven, due October 16.  The follow-up to the Chris Brown-assisted “Put It Down” was inspired by her real-life boyfriend Ryan Press.

According to Rolling Stone, Brandy’s album will feature contributions from Bangladesh on the Lykke Li-sampled “Let Me Go,” Mike WiLL Made It (“Do You Know”), Mario Winans (“Wish Your Love Away”), Rico Love and Jim Jonsin (“Hardly Breathing”), Hit-Boy (“White Flag”), and a potential duet with Frank Ocean on “Scared of Beautiful.”

Beyonce Steps Up House of Dereon Brand In New Ads

Beyonce is a very busy woman these day. She is reportedly in the studio working her next album with Kanye West and Hit-Boy  and she recently released the inspirational video for her song, “I Was Here” in honor of World Humanitarian Day. Now, Queen B looks stunning while modeling House of Dereon’s  fall 2012 collection.  Ladies will you be wearing or buying??

LeBron James’ New Nike LeBron X Will Retail For $315

Reigning NBA MVP and NBA champion LeBron James’ new signature sneaker will cost you three bills (with Ben Franklin in the portrait) and change. Yep, the new Nike LeBron X, which King James rocked for the first time during Team USA’s gold medal game and drops this fall, will hit retail for a cool $315. Blame cool new bell & whistles and slumping profits for the hefty price tag. Reports the Wall Street Journal:

Analysts expect that this 10th LeBron shoe will retail for around $315. The first edition, modeled after basketball star LeBron James, the Nike Zoom Generation, retailed for around $110 in 2003; the ninth edition retails for around $250.

The price leaps come after Nike’s gross margins dropped to 42.8% from 44.3% in its most recent quarter ending May 31, the sixth-straight year-to-year quarterly decline. Nike’s margins are now lower than most of its direct competitors, rival Adidas AG ADS.XE 0.00% and apparel maker Under Armour Inc.

In Case You Missed It!! Memphitz Tells His Side of the K. Michelle Story

Memphitz finally broke his silence in the ongoing saga between himself and K. Michelle back in June on the T.T Torrez show.  Since the first time she appeared on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta K. Michelle’s entire storyline has revolved around her telling the story of how Memphitz kicked her ass and stole her money.  Memphtiz has remained silent, but Memph explains to T.T Torrez that it was K. Michelle who attacked him and not the other way around.  In the interview Memphitz tells T.T. that after K. Michelle  embarrassed him in a business meeting with her loud mouth, he sent her to the hotel room to wait until he was finished. After returning to the room, Memphitz says he broke up with K. Michelle and that’s when she came out swinging.  Memphitz admits restraining K. but not hitting her or trying to smother her with a pillow. Memphitz also took a moment to share that MiMi’s best friend Ariane, that they used to date and when he sees her on the previews sitting with K. Michelle, he wonders why she never vouches for the fact that he never laid a hand on her.  Take a listen:

New Music: Faith Evans – ‘Tears of Joy’

Faith Evans sheds “Tears of Joy” on the first single off her upcoming album R&B Divas (Prolific Music Group/eOne Music), which also serves as the companion to TV One’s new reality show of the same name.  The soulful song was written and produced by Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony.

R&B’s First Lady has also contributed “Lovin’ Me” as the theme song for the series.

Before her album drops on October 2, look out for the follow-up single “Dumb,” an uptempo retro-soul record written by Evans and produced by 1500 or Nothin’ (Game, Snoop Dogg).