Lawsuit filed after woman texted 911, only to be found dead days later

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Could Buffalo Police have done more to protect a woman who texted 911 begging for help, only to be found dead just days later, beaten and stabbed to death by her boyfriend? That’s the question at the core of a lawsuit seeking to hold the City of Buffalo and its police department accountable.

Jena MacDiarmid was a mother, a sister, a daughter and a friend. Known for her kindness, she’d give anyone the shirt off her back if they needed it. She leaves behind three children, who her sister Jamie Near says are still devastated two years later.

“I knew one day, it was going to come to this,” Near said. “I always knew in my gut that he was a killer.”

Near told News 4 Investigates that her sister Jena begged for help, texting 911 in the early morning hours of Aug. 3, 2023.

The texts show she pleaded for someone to come, writing: “Please don’t call… it’s about to be a domestic… please rush ’cause it’s gonna get bad.”

Dispatchers assured MacDiarmid that police were on the way. At 5:14 a.m., they said officers were outside, but MacDiarmid said she didn’t see them. By 5:22 a.m., the exchange ended.

Four days later, Near got the property manager to open the apartment, which is when she found her sister’s body.

“You could see the blood all over the walls, and all over the ceiling, and all over the floor,” Near said. “She was not only beaten while she was alive, but they were also post-mortem as well. She had a broken jaw. She had massive stab wounds all over her face, torso, arms, legs.”

Police later arrested MacDiarmid’s boyfriend, Savon Stewart, who was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.

“I’m mad, I’m hurt, I feel betrayed,” Near said. “I do think had they gone that Thursday morning like they said, that she could still be here today.”

Stewart had a history of abusing MacDiarmid, and an open warrant, according to Near, who wants answers as to why he wasn’t taken into custody sooner.

“You’ve destroyed our lives,” Near said. “Most of all, you’ve destroyed her children’s lives.”

Near is referring to the City of Buffalo, the Buffalo Police Department, and Erie County — all of whom she says failed MacDiarmid when she needed them most.

Near hired trial attorney Melissa Wischerath, who specializes in wrongful death suits. She said police records show officers didn’t arrive until just after 6 a.m., more than an hour after dispatch told MacDiarmid they were outside.

“We know very clearly from the documentary evidence that when the text 911 provider said they are outside, according to the police’s own records, they weren’t there until 6 a.m.,” Wischerath said. “More than an hour and fifteen minutes later. We won’t know until the case develops what efforts they took, if any, to gain access, whether or not they really were in the parking lot, or what the details are until the case progresses.”

Wischerath also uncovered troubling data showing the median response time for Buffalo Police domestic trouble calls is 47 minutes — significantly higher than non-domestic trouble calls, according to the lawsuit.

Erie County has filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing MacDiarmid’s murder was not the county’s fault and claiming the 911 dispatch center is not a legal entity that can be sued. But it’s named as a defendant in the suit, alongside the City of Buffalo and Buffalo Police, who Near and her attorney say need to do better for domestic violence victims.

“What Jamie shared with me, very early on, was that her goal was to help other victims,” Wischerath said when asked what about the goal of the lawsuit.

Moving forward, Near hopes the outcome of the lawsuit will spare others from feeling the kind of pain she feels after losing a loved one in a domestic violence-related incident that she believes could’ve been prevented.

“Don’t let this happen to your family because you have no idea how bad it really, truly hurts,” Near said. “It will rip every one of you apart, and it doesn’t … it doesn’t go away.”

News 4 Investigates reached out to the City of Buffalo and Erie County for a response to the lawsuit. Both declined to comment.